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Saturday, 21 November 2009

Newsroom

Waste: reduce, reuse, recycle

  • Published: Monday, 2 November 2009

A new campaign has launched which looks at every kind of waste from food to furniture. The campaign highlights how many tonnes of CO2 emissions and landfill waste people in the UK can avoid. It asks people to remember the three Rs - ‘Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.’

Keeping your waste out of landfill

Before you bin, remember the three Rs

Consumers really can make a difference when it comes to waste disposal. People could stop 500,000 tonnes of usable items from going to landfill, says the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Avoidable waste

The following kinds of item top the list:

  • electronic goods in working order
  • clothing in good condition
  • all varieties of food waste
  • packaging that can be avoided or reused

You can find tips on smarter ways to deal with waste at the campaign website.

Donate or receive a free item

From that party dress you never wore to the flat-pack shelving that’s no longer cool – so much of what goes in the bin is a personal statement. It's useless to you, but other people may think differently. Only, how do you find them?

Your local recycling network can help. Email lists put together by volunteers let people request or donate an item. The sorts of item you're likely to find on the list will include:

  • furniture
  • white goods
  • building materials
  • garden products

Everything is free, and there's no charge for the service. If you wish to claim an item, it's up to you to contact the owner and collect it promptly.

Waste: you can make a difference

According to figures published by Defra:

  • England currently recycles 37.5 per cent of its waste
  • UK households throw out on average £400 of perfectly edible food each year
  • if everyone recycles one glass jar a year, this will save 2,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions – the same effect as taking 30,000 cars off the road
  • if every household in the EU recycles one electrical or electronic item such as a mobile phone or iPod, this will save 73,000 tonnes of waste from landfill

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