Kenneth Gibson MSP has welcomed and supports Zero Waste Scotland’s annual Recycle Week, which takes place from 24 - 30 September.
Recycle Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. Over the course of the week, Zero Waste Scotland will encourage people across the country to call time on household plastic bottles, which are often overlooked, and recycle them correctly.
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland said:
“Recycle Week is the ideal opportunity to do more to make sure we’re recycling as much as we can. We all use plastic bottles in our daily routines – from shampoo and shower gel, to cleaning products – which can all be widely recycled, and it doesn’t take long to do.
“The issue of single use plastics has been well-documented and we want to make sure Scots are aware that we need to take action on plastic now. We have seen recycling rates improve across the country but we’re still seeing too many plastic bottles which could easily be recycled end up in landfill unnecessarily.”
Kenneth Gibson MSP added:
“Each year, 30,000 tonnes of plastic bottles needlessly end up in landfill, so it’s never been more important to recycle them. Not all of us are aware that there are many bottles from around the home which can be added to the recycling, such as olive oil, shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, cleaning product and bleach bottles. It only takes seconds to recycle and helps to save resources, tackle marine pollution and prevent harm to wildlife.
“Scotland’s vision is for a ‘zero waste’ society. The target we’re working towards is to send no more than 5% of all waste to landfill, and for 70% of waste to be recycled or re-used by 2025. In order to achieve that, it’s essential that we all recycle as much and as often as we can. We must do so not just for ourselves, but for future generations.”
More information on Zero Waste Scotland is at: http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk.
If you wish to get involved, the Recycle Week 2018 toolkit can be downloaded here.
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