News Archive
Here are our archived news stories:
July 2008
Don't waste the summer
For many people in the Borders, a day out at an agricultural show is an important part of their summer. As farmers are busy preparing their animals and produce, the SBC Recycling team are also getting ready for the shows.
The team's recycling and composting stand has become a popular stop for show visitors. The games for children are particularly popular and they help to gently reinforce the recycling message. The Council's compost experts Jane and Dave Allan are on hand with advice and the answers to your questions about garden waste. There is also practical information about recycling that will help everyone make the most of the Council's recycling services.
Recycling is not, however, the only message from the team. "We need to move towards zero waste in our lives," said Len Wyse, Executive Member for Environmental Services. "We cannot go on sending waste to landfill, it just causes too much damage to the environment. We need to look at ways to reduce and reuse in order to cut waste."
The shows are a good opportunity to ask the Recycling team about innovative ways to cut your waste and to learn how small changes in your daily routine can make a big impact.
You can talk to the recycling team at the following shows this summer;
- Border Union Show, Kelso, 25-26 July
- Duns Show, 2 August
- Peebles Show, 16 August
- Holm Show, Newcastleton, 30 August
March 2008
Carton recycling introduced
Long-life cartons, like those made by Tetra Pak, are increasingly popular for food and drink but due to their composition are not straightforward to recycle. Tetra Pak and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) have worked with Councils across the UK to establish recycling schemes and in 2007 collections were introduced at Community Recycling Centres in the Scottish Borders and in 2008 the Council started accepting cartons in the clear kerbside recycling bags.
The cartons are pulped and the aluminium and polythene removed to be made into new products or recovered through pyrolysis (decomposition of a substance by heat). As an average of 2.3kg of paper-based cartons is produced per UK household each year, this is an important addition to the Recycling services. Once collected the cartons are taken away to be baled and transported to a recycling mill. They can be recycled into a number of different products, ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.
October 2006
Borders Recycling hits 30%
Recycling is going from strength to strength across the Borders with the latest quarterly figures showing that householders are recycling almost 30 per cent of their waste.
“We’d like to say a big thank-you to everyone for supporting the recycling services we have introduced and urge you to keep up the great work,” said Julie Rankine, SBC Waste Strategy Manager. Figures submitted by the Council to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) show that 29.93 per cent of waste was recycled in the second quarter of 2006 compared to 10.4 per cent in the same quarter last year.
During April to June this year, 2,377 tonnes of paper and card, 145 tonnes of plastics and 62 tonnes of cans were sent for recycling. This waste, which once would have gone to landfill, is now being processed and made into new products. In the January to March 2006 quarter, 20.82 per cent of waste was recycled compared to 7.92 per cent in the same quarter last year.
August 2006
Children learn composting skills
Scottish Borders Council delivered Home Composters to schools to help pupils explore ways of turning garden waste into power for their flowers and vegetables.
St Margaret’s Primary School in Galashiels was one of the first schools to receive their Home Composter during Compost Awareness Week in May 2006. Geraldine Rowley, St Margaret’s headteacher is delighted with the delivery: “The children came up with the idea of having a composter during a Pupil Council Meeting and had already thought about fundraising to buy one, so this is a bonus.” She added: “We have a school garden and we have dug out a vegetable patch where we hope to plant herbs and early potatoes that we can see sprout before the holidays. Now the children can learn about making compost, which will add to their progress on the Eco Schools environmental programme.” Using a composter gives the children first-hand experience of reducing garden waste and making a valuable product which can be used to improve the soil where they plant flowers and vegetables.
In the Scottish Borders residents in rural areas have been given free Home Composters by the Council to help reduce their garden waste and ultimately help cut the amount of waste sent to landfill. “Now we are delighted to help spread the composting message by giving the schools Home Composters. They can also call on our compost ‘guru’, David Allan of Ask Organic for advice on how to get the best out of their composting,” said Julie Rankine, SBC’s Waste Strategy Manager.
June 2006
Make recycling your goal
More than 103 million cans and bottles will be consumed in Scotland during the World Cup and that means an ideal opportunity
for armchair football fans to make recycling their goal.
Scotland may not be on the pitch in Germany, but even the Tartan Army are lending their support to this week's BIG Recycle for Scotland. Stevie Yule (pictured left) and Scotty Pilmer are leading the Tartan Army's assault on recycling by urging football fans to make sure as much of their match-watching waste goes into an appropriate recycling container.
Here in the Scottish Borders, all those cans can be recycled at the kerbside in your clear recycling bags and the bottles at recycling points in towns and villages. Don't forget to put clean take-away cardboard packaging in your lilac recycling bags!
Last year the average Scottish household recycled the equivalent weight of 37 World Cup trophies and this year due to the increase in recycling facilities available - like kerbside collections in the Borders - we expect this to rise substantially.
Did you know?
The World Cup trophy weighs 6.175kg.
The BIG Recycle for Scotland is part of Waste Aware Scotland, the national campaign which aims to raise awareness of, and change public attitudes and behaviour towards waste by promoting Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Other news
- Latest News
- SB Connect, the Council's Newspaper - Recycling special 2008
- Other News
- SB Connect, the Council's Newspaper - Recycling special 2007
Contact us
Telephone Helpline: 01835 825128
Email: The Recycling Team
By post: The Recycling Team, Scottish Borders Council, Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, TD6 0SA
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