Published Wednesday 25 January 2023 at 15:18
Residents can now both recycle with TerraCycle and raise money for the East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn with Darwen over the next six months.
Have you heard about our trial with recycling organisation TerraCycle, allowing Blackburn with Darwen residents to recycle items usually headed for the burgundy waste bin?
Now, as well as being able to recycle typically non-recyclable items, residents can also raise money for Mayor’s charity East Lancashire Hospice.
Biscuit wrappers, Pringles tubes, plastic toothbrushes and coffee bags are included in the waste items that can be dropped off during the trial period.
These items are not usually included in Council kerbside recycling collections across the UK, as they’re made up of complex material that make the recycling process more difficult and costly.
Yet now, through this extended partnership between Blackburn with Darwen Council and TerraCycle, residents have even more recycling options available to them.
Each bag of waste collected and dropped-off by residents to be recycled by TerraCycle will also earn points for the Council, which will then be redeemed as monetary donations for the East Lancashire Hospice.
And to make things even easier, residents can recycle at the new TerraCycle drop-off point in Blackburn Market, as well as both Blackburn and Darwen household waste recycling centres.
The trial with TerraCycle, that was originally set to end in November 2022, has been extended to June 2023 so Blackburn with Darwen residents can take full advantage of this brilliant recycling initiative.
Residents are encouraged to take part by requesting a label for the waste category they want to recycle via the RecycleBwD website: www.recyclebwd.org/terracycle.
So, how does it work?
STEP 1: Collect the relevant product packaging at home.
STEP 2: Request free recycling labels using the form at www.recyclebwd.org/terracycle.
STEP 3: Stick your label to any plastic bag of your choice (preferably a clear one, but any will do).
STEP 4: Drop off the full plastic bag at your local Household Waste Recycling Centre or Blackburn Market.
STEP 5: Each bag you drop off will earn points that can then be redeemed as monetary donations for the East Lancashire Hospice. Click here to find out the exact value of each waste stream.
Be sure to collect categories of items separately. For example, Pringles tubes should not be mixed with coffee packaging.
It’s as simple as that!
The items eligible to be recycled are:
- All Pringles® tubes. Note: the lids can be recycled kerbside.
- All brands of biscuit, cracker and cake wrappers. Note: chocolate bar wrappers and biscuit trays are not accepted.
- All brands of flexible coffee packaging. Note: ground coffee, individual coffee bags and capsules are not accepted.
- All brands of manual toothbrushes, dental floss containers, electric flosser nozzles, flossing sticks and interdental brushes. Note: toothpaste tubes, battery operated toothbrushes and dental floss are not accepted
Cllr Jim Smith, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Executive Member for Environment, said:
We’re delighted to be extending our partnership with TerraCycle and offering our residents the option to recycle even more items.
Being chosen as a partner for this trial is a fantastic opportunity and we encourage each and every one of our residents to get involved – it’s really easy to take part.
Boosting recycling rates, reducing food waste and lowering contamination are key priorities for us over the next year and beyond. Encouraging this sort of behaviour is really important for Blackburn with Darwen and the entire planet, and the TerraCycle partnership is another chance for us to do this.
I really look forward to seeing the outcomes of the trial.
Cllr Suleman Khonat, Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, said:
East Lancashire Hospice do incredibly valuable work across our borough, providing care and support for those going through difficult times.
“For residents to be able to both raise money for this fantastic charity and make greener, more sustainable choices is a great opportunity, and I encourage as many people as possible to get behind this cause.
Leanne Green, Head of Fundraising and Marketing at East Lancashire Hospice, said:
We are pleased to be the chosen charity to benefit from the recycle scheme within Blackburn with Darwen, it’s a great opportunity for our local community to work together on recycling but also to support East Lancashire Hospice. Being part of new campaigns that we know will bring our community together is something we love doing and we are excited for this to launch.
The money donated through TerraCycle will help us as a hospice continue to provide care to patients with life limiting illnesses in our community, whether that be at the hospice or in the comfort of their own home. We pride ourselves on supporting patients and their families at a time when they need us most and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Blackburn with Darwen Council and TerraCycle for putting us forward to benefit from the recycle scheme.
TerraCycle partners with brands and third party recyclers to fund and carry out the recycling process for this type of waste. Pringles, Philips, Taylors of Harrogate and pladis (the company behind McVitie’s and Jacob’s) are the brands participating in the council trial.
The waste will be recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning into plastic pellets, which can then be used by manufacturers to create new plastic products such as outdoor equipment – reducing the need to extract new resources from the planet.
For more information about what can be recycled through the scheme, or to get involved and drop your waste off for recycling, head to www.recyclebwd.org/terracycle.
TerraCycle and the brands taking part in the trial already run national recycling programmes which allow consumers to collect and recycle their waste for free by signing up as a collector or by finding their nearest drop-off location. To find out more visit: https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades#