National Recycling Week

12.17.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 2nd Jun 2008

Richard Burt (right) and County Councillor Penelope Morgan (left) lead the way, recycling cardboard, bottles, plastic, green and paper waste from the home.

A UK-wide campaign to encourage people to recycle more of their household waste has been backed by Liberal Democrats in West Worcestershire.

This is the fifth year that National Recycling Week has been held. It is run by Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a national organisation set up to help people produce less waste and advise on how best to deal with rubbish in an environmentally friendly way.

Local parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt said, "In Worcestershire each person is on average producing 258 kg of waste a year that is not recycled or composted. 59% of this ends up in landfill.

"Liberal Democrats in West Worcestershire are delighted to be able to back National Recycling Week. We are encouraging as many residents as possible to make small changes in their lifestyles which will make large strides to ensuring we do not wreck our environment.

"We waste a huge amount of food each year - on average we throw away 112kg of food each, most of which is still usable. People can avoid this waste by doing simple things such as producing a shopping list of what food is needed, rather than wandering around the supermarket buying what takes your fancy!

"Last year in the UK, it was estimated that we spent £8 billion on food that was still fit to be used when it was thrown away. Being green can save money. But if you do produce food waste, why not get a compost bin if you have a garden?

"People should also try to buy food and other goods which have less packaging. And full use should be made of recycling facilities to dispose of waste. It is better that waste is turned back into something that is useful rather than dumped in the ground.

"There is a limit to how much rubbish we can throw into holes in the ground. There comes a point when we have to say that we cannot go on getting rid of waste in this way.

"I am therefore delighted that National Recycling Week is underway. I hope it will be a great success and will help residents to cut waste and live greener lifestyles."