Now in its twenty-first year, Recycle Week (organised by Recycle Now) is the UK’s biggest celebration of recycling, shining a light on the nation’s recycling habits through activities happening across the UK. For Recycle Week 2024, we will join an urgent crusade to save five packaging heroes from being rubbished, keeping them out of the bin and living the circular life, through recycling.
The latest Recycle Now research shows that while we’re a nation of recyclers - nine out of ten people regularly recycle – nearly eight out of ten of us (79%) put one or more items into the bin that could have been recycled.
To highlight the plight of the five ill-fated packaging heroes, Recycle Now has created a team of characters to bring the campaign to life and is asking everyone to ‘Rescue Me – Recycle.’
The condemned containers include Dee Dee the deodorant, Rey the plastic trigger spray, Yogi the yoghurt pot, Fitz the perfume bottle and humble Hube - the toilet roll tube. The group will feature on recycling and refuse lorries in parts of the UK, in school education packs and on social media. Life-size characters have been produced to highlight the key message and will feature in media throughout Recycle Week.
A week of fun activities with a serious message, Rescue Me – Recycle aims to empower people in East Herts to look out for the five items missed most often in the weekly recycling collection. The council will be encouraging residents to keep them in circulation by recycling.
Throughout the week, we will be sharing posts on our social channels to remind residents about what items can be recycled. We will also be running some fun polls on Instagram to see if residents know what items belong in which bin.
Councillor Tim Hoskin, Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability at East Herts Council, said: “It’s so important that we all do what we can when it comes to recycling. As part of our commitment to this, next year will see the introduction of weekly food waste collections and residents will be able to recycle soft plastics, which will all support us reducing the quantity of waste being send to landfill and by extension our impact on the environment.
As a council, we are committed to assisting residents with their recycling efforts in the lead up to the change. I will personally be working with my fellow councillors to ensure that we lead by example and maximise our recycling potential.”
If you would like to follow the action on social media and take part in your own rescue missions, please use the hashtag #RescueMeRecycle and #RecycleWeek. Follow on Twitter/X @recycle_now and Instagram @recyclenow_uk for updates on how you can get involved and make an impact this Recycle Week.
If you are unsure if an item can be recycled then please check the A-Z on our website.
