Campaign boosts metal recycling in Oswestry

Oswestry residents have responded well to a metal recycling campaign organised by Shropshire Council and, as a result, are now helping to recycle an extra 23 tonnes of metal each year which saves money, energy and raw materials.  The campaign was externally funded by the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

For the ‘Metal Matters’ campaign, started in February 2011, every Oswestry household received leaflets explaining the range of metals that could be recycled in their recycling box or in recycling banks.  The leaflets also showed that, regardless of what the metal item had been, it could still be recycled in to high quality and high value goods.  Promotional posters and vehicle signage using the campaign slogan “Where does the metal you recycle end up?” were also used in the Oswestry area, helping to further raise awareness of the campaign.

The purpose of the campaign was to get more people to use their recycling service generally, improve people’s knowledge of the metal items that can be recycled, and increase the amount of metals collected for recycling.  The campaign made residents aware that they could recycle items such as aluminium foil and trays, aerosol cans such as from deodorants and furniture polish, large metal sweet and biscuit tins and the metal lids from jars and bottles.

Data gathered shows that the participation to the kerbside recycling service and the number of households that put out a broader range of metals have both increased. 

Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for waste management and recycling, said:

“I am very grateful to the residents of Oswestry for responding to this recycling campaign so well.   More households are recycling a broader range of metals than before.  Their efforts in recycling metals such as aluminium foil and trays, aerosols and metal lids from jars and bottles means we are saving waste disposal costs as well as being kind on the environment.”