Ipswich residents can now put kitchen waste in their brown bins.
Up until July, a change in national regulations restricted the use of brown bins to garden clippings and grass cuttings. But the new system means Ipswich will boost their recycling efforts still further.
Recycling in Ipswich has come a long way. Around 18,000 tonnes of recyclable matter is now saved from the landfill sites every year. And surveys show that more than eight out of 10 people put their blue bins out for collection every fortnight.
Now that Ipswich's blue bin scheme covers the entire town, the amount residents are now recycling has risen; from 5% in 2003/4 to 25% last year and more than 36% this year.
On average, UK households produce half a tonne of household waste every year. Around 60% of this can be recycled. Once in your black, brown or blue bin, your waste is either land-filled, composted or recycled. The kerbside collection scheme in Ipswich makes it very easy for residents to recycle. There are also more than 70 recycling banks situated throughout Ipswich." But there is always more to do.
Ipswich Borough Council is working with major retailers to encourage shoppers to use "bags for life" instead of plastic carrier bags. Each year, Britons pick up 50 billion bags and these weigh as much as 70,000 cars.
Following successful schemes with Asda and the Co-op the Council launched a new “bag for life’ scheme at the new Co-op store in Ravenswood.
Recycling is important. Councillor Inga Lockington, Ipswich Borough Council’s Environment portfolio-holder, said: “Land-filling rubbish is old thinking. Recycling is the present and the future. We owe it to our children and their children to look after our environment."
For more information please contact Ipswich Borough Council's Waste Strategy Team. tel: 01473 432099.