Warwickshire News Mine

Mr and Mrs Humphries have received the knock on the door to be presented with a cheque for £50 for simply putting their red box out with contents for recycling.

Warwickshire County Council presented the couple with the cheque for £50 as part of a new scheme to encourage people to use their red boxes.

Mrs Humphries said: “We always recycle and compost, in fact we’ve been composting our kitchen and garden waste for the last 20 years. We put out our red box every fortnight, mainly recycling paper and glass. We’re looking forward to being able to recycle cardboard and plastic in April.”

Warwickshire County Council is working with Warwick District Council to run the Red Box Lottery scheme where each week a household, which has put their red recycling box out for collection, will be selected at random to receive £50.

All residents of Warwick District have to do to be in with a chance of winning the £50 each week is put their red box out for collection by 8am on their normal collection day and make sure it is filled with the normal recyclable items such as paper, glass and cans.

The first three draws have taken place with winners in both Kenilworth and Warwick so far.

The Red Box Lottery will take place throughout January, February, March and April, so make sure you put your red box out every collection to be in with a chance of winning.

The aim of the red box lottery is to encourage even more people to use their red boxes. A recent study by Warwick District Council in partnership with Warwickshire County Council set out to discover how many households in the district are participating in the red box recycling scheme.

The survey was carried out between 8th November 2007 and 11th December 2007, and red box collection crews were followed around different urban and rural areas of the district on three separate occasions to monitor how many households were putting their red boxes out for collection.

The results show that only 52% of households in Warwick District are taking part in the red box recycling scheme.

Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “The Red Box Lottery is an exciting new way to get people using their boxes and putting items out for recycling. By simply putting out the red box with items for collection you could win £50.

“Hopefully we will see even more people starting to use their red boxes to help us push up those recycling figures and divert waste away from landfill.

“The survey results were extremely interesting, finding that 52 per cent of people are using their boxes. This was the first survey of its kind to be carried out in Warwick District and we hope to carry out an identical survey later in the year to determine whether participation in the recycling scheme has increased.”

If you don’t have a red box but would like to start recycling and be in with a chance of winning £50 please phone 01926 456341 or e-mail ehwaste@warwickdc.gov.uk to order a box.

Many changes are underway in Warwick District, as improvements are made to the way recycling and refuse is collected. Households in Warwick District should have now received an information leaflet which introduces the new service. This will be followed by a more detailed leaflet in March 2008 which will explain the new services fully.

Households will receive a grey wheeled bin for their refuse and a green wheeled bin (if they don’t already have one) for their garden and food waste. The new services will start at the beginning of April 2008. The recycling and refuse collections will be on the same day of the week. All recycling including garden and food waste will be collected one week and then any non-recyclable waste will be collected the following week.

Households can continue to use their red box to recycle paper and magazines, glass bottles and jars, food and drinks cans, clothes and shoes, batteries and engine oil. They will also be able to recycle plastic bottles, card and cardboard.

The green wheeled bin service will be extended across the whole district and households will be able to use their green bin to compost green garden waste as well as raw and cooked food.

Councillor Michael Kinson, Warwick District Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “Households should have by now had a leaflet explaining the new services. If residents have any questions please contact the Sort It Team by phone or e-mail and they will be pleased to help.”

If you want to find out more come along to one of our Sort It Roadshows throughout February, March and April where the SORT IT TEAM will be on hand to give you more details and answer any questions:

Kenilworth

Kenilworth Market, Abbey End, Kenilworth
Thursday 28th February
Thursday 20th March

Sainsbury’s, Warwick Road, Kenilworth
Saturday 23rd February 11am - 3pm
Monday 10th March 5pm - 9pm
Wednesday 26th March 11am - 3pm

Leamington Spa

ASDA, Chesterton Drive, Sydenham, Leamington Spa
Thursday 7th February 11am - 3pm
Wednesday 19th March 5pm - 9pm
Saturday 29th March 11am - 3pm

Sainsbury’s, Shires Retail Park, Leamington Spa
Tuesday 19th February 5pm - 9pm
Friday 14th March 11am - 3pm

Somerfield, Clemens Street, Leamington Spa
Saturday 1st March 11am - 3pm
Friday 7th March 11am -3pm
Thursday 3rd April 11am -3pm

The Royal Priors Shopping Centre, The Parade, Leamington Spa
Saturday 16th February 11am - 3pm
Tuesday 4th March 11am - 3pm
Saturday 19th April 11am - 3pm

Warwick

Sainsbury’s, The Saltisford, Warwick
Wednesday 13th February 11am - 3pm
Monday 25th February 4pm - 8pm

Tesco, Emscote Road, Warwick
Tuesday 5th February 5pm - 9pm
Thursday 6th March 11am - 3pm
Saturday 15th March 11am - 3pm

Warwick Market, Market Place, Warwick
Saturday 2nd February

To find out more about the new recycling and refuse services please visit http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/recycling or contact the Sort It Team on 01926 456339 or e-mail us at sort-it@warwickdc.gov.uk

Link to WCC