Recycling in Wrexham, yes we can!

Local authorities have made impressive progress towards increasing domestic recycling over the past ten years. The investments made in developing recycling services and communications campaigns to residents have diverted millions of tonnes of valuable materials from landfill.

Despite budgets being squeezed councils recognise that it makes financial, as well as environmental, sense to encourage residents to recycle more. Wrexham Council has proved that recycling success can come from developing cross-sector partnerships – most recently with the metal packaging industry and leading brands, its waste management contractor and the reprocessing sector working with the local authority to the benefit of all.

Last year Wrexham Council became the 50^th local authority to benefit from MetalMatters, the metal packaging industry-funded communications campaign to increase household recycling of metal. This programme aims to encourage householders to recycle more of the metal packaging they use around home and put into their kerbside recycling scheme.

How does MetalMatters work?

The MetalMatters campaign delivers targeted messaging to residents about the benefits of recycling and can be delivered to every household, or tailored to specific rounds or groups. Two leaflet drops, typically eight weeks apart, inform and remind householders about what and how to recycle, and explain what happens to metal packaging when it is recycled.

The communications campaign in Wrexham urged the Borough’s 62,000 households to recycle more of the estimated 58.4 million items* of metal packaging they use in their homes every year. The Council also organised local roadshows in supermarkets using MetalMatters displays and competitions to help promote recycling messages.

The Wrexham campaign was actively supported by Ball Packaging Europe, which operates a beverage can manufacturing plant in the borough and is a MetalMatters funding partner through its membership of Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME). Ball Packaging Europe hosted a visit for local school, Brynteg County Primary School, and Councillors and representatives from Wrexham County Borough Council, as part of its support for the campaign.

Results are being monitored over a twelve-month period, and are due to be published shortly, with the initial six month summary showing that the volume of metal packaging collected have increased compared to the same period the previous year and the campaign is on course to return on investment within 12 months of its launch.

MetalMatters is the largest industry-funded recycling communications campaign in the United Kingdom and has been commended by central and devolved governments for its contribution to driving up and sustaining metal capture rates. The programme is funded by a partnership of metal packaging manufacturers, fillers and reprocessors and is delivered on their behalf by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), with local authorities and their waste collection partners.

MetalMatters campaigns have now been delivered in 73 local authorities, and have been proven to work across all recycling scenarios, including urban and rural areas and councils with co-mingled or source-separated collection schemes. The campaigns deliver return on investment within a year, and sometimes as quickly as 4 months. A campaign in Newport achieved a 9% increase in metal capture at a cost of 31p per household, whilst the London Borough of Lewisham increased metal capture by 12% at a cost of 25p per household.

Every Can Counts

To further build on the success of the MetalMatters campaign, Wrexham Borough Council has instigated a new on-street recycling programme for drink cans, installing dedicated collection points at key public and leisure locations throughout the county.

The bright green can shaped recycling banks, provided by leading recycling programme Every Can Counts, have been designed to make it easier than ever for residents and visitors to recycle when out and about.

The Every Can Counts programme, also managed by Alupro, focuses on developing the infrastructure for collecting drinks cans used outside the home. Every Can Counts is a partnership between the major European and UK beverage can manufacturers, aluminium reprocessors and leading drinks brands.

The six new recycling receptacles in Wrexham are located in Llwyn Isaf, Waterworld, Alyn Waters Country Park and Tŷ Mawr Country Park, as well as at the Housing, Public Protection and Environment Department building.

The Every Can Counts programme in Wrexham is part of the council’s drive to increase recycling rates to 64% by 2019/20.

Reducing cross contamination and costs

Speaking about the decision to implement the Every Can Counts recycling programme in the six trial locations, Councillor David A Bithell, Lead Member for Place – Environment and Transport, Wrexham County Borough Council, said: “We provide very limited ‘on-the-go’ street recycling bins for cans, bottles and paper throughout Wrexham. Unfortunately, these are often mistaken for litter bins and filled with incorrect materials, meaning the waste has to be treated via the Mechanical Biological Treatment plant, adding avoidable costs to the recycling process.

“As well as increasing the number of locations where residents and visitors can recycle, we hope the bright green can shaped receptacles and clear signage will reduce this cross contamination and increase the recycling rates of drinks cans.”

Rick Hindley, executive director of project managers, Alupro, said: “Wrexham Borough Council is taking a forward-thinking approach to recycling, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Cross contamination is a major issue for council waste services and these recycling bins have been designed to make it as clear as possible. However, Every Can Counts isn’t just for councils, we also work with businesses to reduce waste costs by increasing recycle rates of drinks cans with free to use bins and communications material.”

Every Can Counts provides practical advice and support which includes free communications materials to help organisations set up, or relaunch, a recycling scheme and provides assistance with finding a recycling service provider if necessary. Across the UK there are 13,300 Every Can Counts-branded recycling points.

Results show that introducing Every Can Counts not only boosts recycling of drinks cans, but stimulates interest in recycling of all materials. Every Can Counts is also working to raise awareness of recycling drinks cans ‘on the go’ and has run campaigns in shopping centres, town centres, tourist sites and at events, including major music festivals.

The Every Can Counts model developed by Alupro in the UK is now being replicated in other countries in Europe. Most recently launched in Spain, there are currently ten programmes promoting beverage can recycling under the Every Can Counts brand across Europe.

Return on investment

Metal packaging is the most valuable of the materials that enter the household waste stream. Endlessly recyclable, it has an intrinsic value that is reflected in its market price. It is also simple to recycle since all metal packaging can be collected together in the home in the same bin, so residents engage easily with the metals recycling message, and in turn recycle more.

Both the MetalMatters and Every Can Counts campaigns have provided fresh stimulus to recycling in Wrexham, supporting the Council’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness and helping to driving increases in the recovery of metal packaging and other dry recyclables.

It is in the interests of both the metal packaging industry and local authorities to work together to keep materials in the loop, and these campaigns provides the framework for doing just that.

For more information about MetalMatters visit www.MetalMatters.org.uk and for Every Can Counts www.everycancounts.co.uk

* Number of million packaging items based on: 600 food tins, 380 drinks cans and 27 empty aerosols thrown out by an average household annually (1007 items), multiplied by approx. number of households 58,000 in Wrexham.

Published in Public Sector Sustainability – March 2016