MAKE your metal matter.
That is the message from recycling chiefs at Warwick District Council who are calling on resident to recycle more of the estimated 62 million cans, aerosols and aluminium trays they use each year.
The Metals Matter campaign will see 52,000 leaflets sent to homes with information about what can be recycled and what happens to the metals collected.
Used metal packaging can be recycled endlessly into new products at a lower cost to industry and the environment than making them from raw materials. A tin of beans could be turned into a new kettle or a coke can could become an iPod.
Nick Browning, general manager of council waste contractors Suez, said: “If people don’t put their tins, cans and foil in the recycling bin, it ends up in landfill, which is a complete waste when you think that in as little as six weeks it could be turned into a completely new product.”
If all the metal packaging used in Warwick district each year was collected for recycling it would save some 2,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent to taking some 700 cars off local streets for a year.
Council recycling spokesman Dave Shilton said: “We are committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and we hope the campaign will encourage our residents to recycle more of the metal packaging they use every day.
“Every can recycled saves enough energy to run a TV for four hours, so a small action like putting your empty bean tin in the recycling bag, box or bin can make a big difference.”
