WESTBURY Town Council has recently announced a new recycling plan, in an attempt to reduce the amount of residual waste produced by the area.
The area board has received 12 months of funding to increase awareness of recycling in the area.
Ethandune councillor Jerry Wickham is part of the Westbury Area Board and is heading the initiative. Cllr Wickham is also Wiltshire County Council’s portfolio holder for waste and recycling.
He said, “West Wiltshire has been identified has having one of the highest levels of residual waste and lowest recycling rates in the county.
“Part of the reason for this, we think, is that residents in Wiltshire have larger bins, so are throwing more away. We need to make sure people know how to properly recycle, and how important it really is.
“Not only are our hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste dreadful for the environment, it also costs the council a lot of money in landfill tax; money that could be much better spent elsewhere.
“Westbury Area Board’s new scheme, in association with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, will be a step forward in increasing awareness of waste and encouraging recycling.
“We will have two dedicated members of the charity devoted to delivering workshops in schools in Westbury, to introduce and reinforce the importance of recycling in the town’s young people.
“Since recycling became a priority the amount of waste going to landfill has fallen from 85% to below 20%, but there’s still a way to go. 2015 is the first time we’ve had the resources to do this, and we will be closely monitoring the campaign in the hopes of producing a successful process that we can replicate elsewhere.”
Recycling bins are collected every other week in Wiltshire. To find out more about what, when, where, and how you can recycle, go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk.
