Plastic fantastic
All nine of Warwickshire’s recycling centres are for the first time accepting plastic bottles.
Judkins in Nuneaton has joined centres around the county in allowing people to recycle the PET (1) and HDPE (2) plastic bottles. PET are pop bottles such as coke and lemonade, and HDPE refers to opaque bottles such as milk and detergent.
When recycling bottles people are asked to wash and squash bottles to prevent smells and help with storage.
The bottles go to various contractors depending on sites and HDPE is recycled into a variety of items such as pipes and toys, while PET is recycled to make clothing, such as fleeces and hats.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet member for the Environment, said: “This is great news for the people of Warwickshire giving everyone access to facilities to recycle their plastic bottles.
“And we are not stopping here, and investigations are currently underway to look into the feasibility of providing facilities to recycle other common household plastics such as PP (food containers) and LDPE (carrier bags), both of which cannot currently be accepted at the sites.”
Warwickshire’s nine recycling centres are based at Grendon in North Warwickshire; Judkins, Nuneaton; Princes Drive, Leamington Spa; Cherry Orchard, Kenilworth; Burton Farm, Stratford upon Avon; Stockton, Rugby; Shipston, Stratford upon Avon; and Wellesbourne, Warwick.