Cumbria County Council : News Releases : 2007 : April : 4/4/2007

National recycling campaign, Recycle Now, has joined forces with councils in Cumbria and keen recycler, Jane Horrocks, to encourage people in Cumbria to recycle their DIY waste this Easter.

Easter Bank Holiday weekend (6th - 9th April) is traditionally the time when homeowners turn their thoughts to DIY, and with the countdown looming to the launch of the Government's Home Information Pack (HIP) in June, estate agents and DIY stores are bracing themselves for an increase in business this Easter.

This year, with as many as one in three homeowners planning to carry out work on their house, Recycle Now and councils in Cumbria are issuing a timely reminder for people to recycle as much of their DIY waste as possible.

The launch of the HIP in June puts the responsibility of carrying out surveys and guarantees firmly in the hands of the vendor rather than the buyers. And with many sellers in Cumbria wanting to avoid the cost of a HIP, estate agents are expecting to see an increase in the number of people putting their house on the market to beat the June deadline.

But this increase in home improvements brings a large amount of waste, which many DIY enthusiasts are unaware can be recycled. As a result, Recycle Now reveals what can be recycled from around the home.

Jane Horrocks said: "This Easter I'll be one of many spending some DIY time on the house, but I'll also be making sure I recycle as much of the waste as possible. With recycling so easy to do now, it's important that everyone in Cumbria who is planning to don their overalls for a spot of DIY remembers to recycle as much of their rubbish as possible."

Gareth Lloyd, Director of Communications and Awareness at Recycle Now, said: "Putting up new shelves, dismantling old cupboards and general decorating always leads to one big question - what to do with all that extra rubbish? People often don't realise that much of the DIY rubbish they create can be recycled and with an increasing number of recycling centres now accepting waste it's never been easier to dispose of.

TOP TIPS FOR RECYCLING DIY WASTE

- Cardboard boxes

In recent years there has been a surge in the amount of furniture bought as flat packs, much of which comes packaged in large amounts of cardboard. Some local authorities will accept cardboard in kerbside collections, or you can take it to your local recycling bank - visit www.recyclenow.comto find your nearest location.

The same piece of cardboard can be recycled up to five times.

You can donate your paint to a community repaint scheme. Community RePaint is a network of paint donation programmes, with over 60 community-based reuse schemes. Simply visit www.communityrepaint.org.ukto find your nearest location.

A lick of paint is the quickest way to transform a room but very often there are leftovers - Community RePaint estimates that as much as 82 million litres of paint end up unused, stored in homes or garages, or just thrown away. To stop your paint from drying out, cover the tin with a layer of clingfilm before putting the lid back on and store the tin upside down.

- Bricks and building rubble

Bricks and building rubble can be taken to Household Waste Recycling Centres where they may be used in construction. Bricks, stones and other building materials that are in good condition can be sold, donated or re-used.

Building materials are always in demand so advertise in local papers or community noticeboards.

All kinds of textiles can be recycled at recycling banks and centres as long as they are made from man-made fibres.

A wide range of textiles can be easily recycled, including curtains, bedding, towels, handbags, cloths, rugs and mats. At present textile banks are only operating at 25 per cent capacity.

Most types of glass can be recycled either via kerbside collections, bottle banks or local recycling centres, simply make sure they are clean and remove any tops or corks. And after all that hard work, a cool beer or glass of wine will go down a treat - so don't forget to recycle the bottles and cans.

Glass can be recycled again and again without loosing its clarity or purity and the UK has more than 50,000 bottle banks.

For further information on recycling please visit www.recyclenow.com. Recycle Now was launched by Matthew Pinsent in September 2004, it is the multi-media national recycling campaign, implemented and managed by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) on behalf of Government. The aim of the campaign is to encourage more people to recycle more stuff, more often.

WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk) works in partnership to encourage and enable businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more things more often. This helps to minimize landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment. Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by Government funding from Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP's work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.

Recycle Now - Sandrine Powell or Catherine Cuthbert at Ptarmigan Consultants on: 0113 242 1155.

Email: sandrine@ptarmiganpr.co.uk / catherine@ptarmiganpr.co.uk

Pat Jennings, Media Relations Manager or Sarah Dunn, Senior Press Officer, WRAP Office: 01295 819928 / 01295 819695.

4/4/2007 - D.I.Why not recycle more this Easter?