Did you know that in 2005-06 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough:

  • Produced almost 386,000 tonnes of rubbish and over 160,335 tonnes or 40% of it was recycled or composted, well done! We know that potentially 80% of our rubbish can be recycled which shows that we all need to work even harder and reduce the amount of rubbish we produce.
  • There are over 350 recycling bank sites in the area where you can take paper, glass, cans, aerosols, plastic bottles, textiles and books.
  • There are 12 Household Waste Recycle Centres, HWRC (tips!) in the area that recycle glass, engine oil, organic garden material, soil, cans, paper, cardboard, scrap metal, batteries, cartridges and mobile phones, textiles, fridges, freezers (and other white goods), timber and books.

We need to think about what we are throwing away. Every 90 minutes, the UK produces enough rubbish to fill up your local swimming pool! For environmental and financial reasons that affect us all, this cannot continue.

Is it actually worthwhile?

The short answer is yes; even the smallest amount of recycling can make a difference:

  • Recycling Aluminium requires only 5% of the energy it takes to make new aluminium and produces only 5% of the CO2 emissions. (Alupro)
  • Just one recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television set for three hours!
  • Producing steel from recycled material saves 75% of the energy needed for steel made from virgin material (Scrib)
  • The energy saving from recycling one glass bottle will:
    - Power a 100 watt light bulb for almost an hour
    - Power a computer for 25 minutes
    - Power a colour TV for 20 minutes
    - Power a washing machine for 10 minutes (British glass)
  • Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours (Recycle now)

Also, don't forget to buy products containing recycled materials to keep the markets alive!