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Defra And Valpak Fund North East Recycling Reward Scheme

9 January 2012

Valpak is supporting a Recycling Rewards Scheme in the North East of England that aims to increase the collection rate of materials with lower than average participation in the region

In Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland, aerosols and glass jars are being targeted, whereas the scheme will focus on aerosols and hard plastic bottles in Northumberland.

Waste Aware North East (WANE) and Valpak will head the initiative and is funded by Valpak and Defra, via their Household Reward and Recognition fund.

The Government believes rewarding householders for recycling will help to increase local recycling rates.

Stickers are given to resident which are then applied to empty glass jars or aerosols (empty hard plastic bottles or aerosols in Northumberland) before being placed into their kerbside recycling bins provided by the council ready for the usual collection.

Each month one lucky winner from each participating local authority area will be selected at random and can choose their prize from a list that includes a laptop computer, games console or MP3 player with accessories.

These prizes are funded by Valpak and provided in conjunction with one of their members, thehut.com. Alternatively, residents can choose to donate their prize to a local community group of their choice, or use the money available to contribute toward something of that group's choice, such as a day out.

James Skidmore, Valpak Business Development Manager, has been coordinating this project together with the five local authorities and WANE. He said: "Valpak are delighted to be involved in the North East Recycling Rewards Scheme. Through our popular consumer facing recycle-more.co.uk website, we promote the importance of recycling and highlight that there are recycling routes for a number of different materials. We are therefore pleased to be so actively involved in an initiative that encourages people to recycle more of their waste packaging.

"Residents of the North East are generally very good recyclers, but as is seen throughout the rest of the country, there remain a small number of issues to address. It is believed that many householders are not aware that aerosols and hard plastic bottles can be recycled.

Furthermore, they are often used away from the kitchen, which is where recycling tends to take place in most households. Also, whilst the recycling rate of glass bottles is high, the equivalent for glass jars is lower due to the presence of residues, which need to be rinsed out. We hope that this initiative will help to raise awareness of the importance of recycling these items and rewards the further improvement in recycling performance across the participating authorities."

Residents that live in any of the five participating North East regions should register at www.recycle-more.co.uk/nerewards or call 0844 844 4546 in order to receive a pack in the post which will include personalised stickers that are unique to their address.

www.valpak.co.uk

www.defra.gov.uk

www.thehut.com

Darrel Moore