Winners get prizes as recycling rises

9.58.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 24th Jun 2008

ladies for recycling

Latest figures from West Wiltshire show residents are recycling more waste than ever.

The figures reveal that 55 per cent of waste was recycled during May, an 11 per cent increase on the previous year.

Linda Conley, portfolio holder for the environment, said: "These excellent figures speak for themselves. We are consistently increasing the amount of waste being recycled and I would like to thank our residents for their continued efforts to recycle and acknowledge the hard work of our waste management team."

Much of this increase is down to improvements in the kerbside collection service and installation of more mini recycling sites around the district. Residents can now recycle all manner of things including grass clippings, empty aerosol cans, shampoo bottles, cereal boxes and dishcloths. These items can all be reused or recycled, reducing the amount of resources and fuel being used to manufacture new products.

This year's Recycle Week, held at the beginning of June, provided the ideal opportunity for residents to be rewarded for their efforts. West Wiltshire worked with Kennet Council to run the Spot the Recycle Swoosh competition. Five businesses in each of the five main towns displayed the Recycle for Wiltshire jute bag in their ship windows.

Four of the entrants who spotted all five in their town were drawn out of a hat and received a reusable bag of prizes for supporting their local traders. The grand prize winner, Mrs Ann Ford of Warminster, also won a VIP tour of Wadworth Brewery in Devizes, with a chance to meet their famous shire horses - the ultimate 'green' transport.

Mrs Ford said: "Recycling is something that we all have to think about these days. I have always recycled and it is important to do so."

West Wiltshire Council would like to thank the following local traders for their participation in the competition:

Warminster: S.L. Corden & Sons; David Wiltshire Photography; Stationery Plus; Jacqueline's Restaurant & Tea Rooms; C.J. Robbins Butchers.

Bradford on Avon: The Cottage Wholefoods; Browns Hardware; Bloomfield Fruit and Veg; The Cottage Co-operative Café; Maples Deli.

Westbury: Age Concern; C. Linham Butchers; Wessex Books & Gallery; Davies Hardware Ltd; Westbury White Elephant.

Trowbridge: H.B. Pitt; The Alms House; Games Exchange; Knees of Trowbridge.

Melksham: Lovejoys Food; Who Cares; The Cobblers Bench; I.D. Newman & Son Butchers; What the Dickens Bookshop.

Picture - Su Stafford (Wadworth Brewery), Mary Treneer (Kennet), Paula Winchcombe (Kennet), Meg Sims (Winner, Stockton,), Valerie Akers (Winner, Melksham), Ann Ford (Grand Prize winner, Warminster), Emma Glover (West Wiltshire), Linda Conley (West Wiltshire).