5 MILLION FOIL CONTAINERS SET FOR RECYCLING IN ARDS

More than 5 million foil containers are expected to be recycled in Ards every year, following the expansion of Ards Borough Council's recycling service.

Residents can now put clean foil trays, such as those used for take-away food, pie and quiche cases and oven ready meals, as well as clean aluminium foil, into their blue bins - and with an estimated 182 foil containers used by every household every year, that adds up to more than 5 million containers which are now expected to be diverted from landfill sites.

"One of the great qualities of the aluminium used in cooking foil and trays is that it can be recycled endlessly without losing quality. This means that every tray which is recycled reduces the carbon footprint of the next one made, so this is a really effective way for households to help reduce carbon emissions, save energy and ease the pressure on our landfill sites," said Clive Catterson, Waste Awareness Officer with the Council. "Local people can start recycling foil trays immediately and all we ask is that they are rinsed clean and that clean cooking foil is scrunched into a ball before going into blue bins".

According to Alupro - the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation - consumer demand for local authorities to include foil containers in their recycling collection services has never been higher.

Alupro executive director, Rick Hindley said:

"Metal food and drink cans are already are familiar sight in most household recycling bins, but it's great to see that Ards Borough Council is adding foil trays too. We use 16,000 tonnes of foil containers in the UK every year. Every tonne of aluminium recycled saves around nine tonnes of CO2 - so taking part in this scheme will make a valuable contribution to reducing our impact on the environment."

Alupro has teamed up with a range of leading manufacturers and retailers to launch a national campaign aimed at helping other local authorities to follow Ards Borough Council's lead, by adding foil to their household recycling collections. The campaign, is backed by the major aluminium foil container manufacturers Coppice Alupack, Jena, Nicholl Food Packaging and Contital i2r. Other programme partners include Unilever, the British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association (BAMA) and steel packaging recycler Corus.

More information on foil recycling is available at www.alupro.org.uk and for further information about recycling in Ards, contact Clive Catterson, Waste Awareness Officer with Ards Borough Council, Tel: 028 9182 4024, E: clive.catterson@ards-council.gov.uk .