Recycle Week 2016 - The Unusual Suspects revealed

Did you know that if each home in the UK recycled an air freshener can, we could save enough energy to run a fridge - in over 91,000 homes, for a whole year!

Recycle Week 2016 takes place from 12^th - 18^th September and Gloucestershire Joint Waste Team wants to thank Gloucestershire residents for all the great recycling that's already being done, and to let people know about a few 'unusual suspects'.

Residents throughout Gloucestershire are fantastic at recycling plastic drinks bottles, food and drink cans, jam jars and newspapers, but the unusual suspects such as aerosol cans, perfume or aftershave bottles and toilet roll tubes are often missed.

There are lots of places around the home that the unusual suspects can be found, such as in the bathroom or bedroom, and if these items were recycled it could save huge amounts of energy. If everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box, it would save enough energy to run a fridge in over 2,000 homes for a year.

Aluminium deodorant and air freshener aerosol cans are also great for saving energy and should be recycled too. If everyone in the UK recycled just one more Aluminium aerosol can, enough energy could be saved to vacuum over 480,000 homes for a year. Plastic shampoo, shower gel and moisturiser bottles should be recycled as well.

Cleaning products can also play a part in the recycling story. Washing up liquid bottles, soap dispensers, bleach bottles and spray cleaners can all be recycled, although the spray trigger and pump tops should still be put in general waste as they can't currently be recycled.

Cllr Sue Coakley, Chair of the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee, said: "Recycling is important as it has huge environmental and financial benefits. So we all need to make sure that we recycle as much as possible. There are lots of items that can be recycled and we are trying to raise awareness of the less well known items - the 'unusual suspects'.

"Recycle Week is an ideal time for Gloucestershire residents to take a fresh look at their recycling habits to see if they could recycle even more items. One suggestion is to remember that all the bottles and spray cans in your bathroom can be recycled rather than ending up in the bin".  Cllr Ray Theodoulou, Deputy Leader and cabinet member responsible for waste, said: " There are many great benefits to recycling, as many materials can be recycled over and over again with no loss of quality. "This saves resources, helps the environment, reduces energy use and supports a thriving recycling economy."

To find out more information or follow the unusual suspects, head to Recycle Now's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/recyclenow/ or Recycle Now 'The Unusual Suspects'.