Wokingham Borough residents have proved themselves first-rate recyclers, but we now face a new challenge that needs everybody’s help to meet.
Due to global economic changes, recycling plants are no longer accepting wet paper and card and recent batches sent from Wokingham Borough have been rejected for being too damp – meaning they have ended up not being recycled.
The council will react quickly to this challenge and is looking at the best options, but nothing can be delivered immediately. By the time a solution is found, hundreds of tonnes of potentially recyclable paper and card might go out of recycling loop – at significant environmental and financial cost. So, in the short-term, the council is launching its ‘Stamp Out the Damp’ campaign to encourage as many residents as possible to keep their paper and card recycling dry.
Ways that will help keep your card and paper dry, when it’s wet outside, include:
-Cover your recycling box with something waterproof
-Keep your recycling inside if you have space
-Keep your recycling in your garage or shed
-Stack your black boxes with the paper filled one at the bottom
-Put your black boxes out on the morning of collection rather than night before
Despite the setback caused by this unforeseeable change in world markets, Wokingham Borough’s recycling has been soaring in recent months, with only about 1% of our waste now ending up in landfill and recycling rates of more than 55%.
