Best ever paper and cardboard recycling figures in the district

Across the week, the weight of over 33 London buses in high quality, clean and dry paper and cardboard was collected in North Kesteven - the most ever - and 98.5 per cent of purple and the new purple-lidded bins were emptied thanks to households putting the right things in.

The separated paper and cardboard can be kept clean, dry and can go straight to the paper mill to be recycled and used again, rather than absorbing residue from other mixed recycling in bins and becoming unusable.

Council Leader Coun Richard Wright said: “This is a fantastic result and testament to everyone who has not only adjusted to the new purple-lidded bin, or continued great use of their purple bin if they already had one in our trial, but is taking great care to ensure only clean and dry paper and cardboard goes in.

“Paper and cardboard can be recycled several times if kept in good condition, which means everyone’s efforts to keep separating it into their purple-lidded or purple bins will create a wave of positive impact that multiplies and grows as time goes on. I hope everyone in North Kesteven can feel proud of this and the action on climate change it represents.

“We can keep building on this success together, by ensuring any damp, dirty or shredded paper and cardboard goes in the black bin only, not purple or green-lidded. We need now to also tackle the problem of contamination in green-lidded

recycling bins which has been increasing in Lincolnshire over recent years and will undermine all these efforts if left unchecked.”

This week is black bin week, followed by collections of green-lidded recycling bins from October 11. If unsure what to put in bins check at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/recycling

Teams will be out checking what is in green-lidded bins. Where they contain wrong items and cannot be emptied, a green tag will be left indicating which items caused this.