At Wigan Council, our Climate Response Team often ask people what are the best ways we can help combat climate change? And the answer we hear the most is 'Recycle'.
As part of the Deal, we made a commitment to work in partnership with residents, encouraging them to 'Recycle more, Recycle right' in a bid to keep council tax low and as a result, recycling has gone from strength to strength.
Last year, Wigan recycled a record 53% of waste collected from homes across the borough (the national average is 45.5%) - a fantastic effort from residents.
Why we need to do more
While recycling is a good option when it comes to dealing with our waste, it isn’t necessarily the best. 53% equates to over 79,000 tonnes of waste being created. Adding to this the non-recyclable waste (of which the majority is burned for energy recovery, with only 1% of our total waste collected going to landfill), this amounts to a staggering 149,000 tonnes of waste collected from our homes in one year!
Recycling does indeed have its benefits - less waste sent to landfill, reduced need for raw materials, energy savings and cost savings. However, if we are to really make a difference in our impact on the environment, we need to think about our waste before we even create it.
What are the 6Rs of sustainability?
The '6 Rs of sustainability', demonstrate a six-step process of dealing with waste, with recycling actually being the last step! So what are the 6 Rs and how can we utilise them?
- Rethink - Be mindful of what you buy. Ask yourself if you really need something
- Refuse - Don’t buy something you don’t need. Refuse to buy products that cannot be recycled or reused
- Reduce - Cut down on the amount of products and services you use
- Re-use - Take a product / item and repurpose it for a different item
- Repair - Fix, don’t replace your products
- Recycle - Recycle what you cannot reduce, re-use or repair.
Shifting our way of thinking
The residents of the borough have been fantastic in their recycling efforts - sorting out waste into different bins has become second nature to many of us. However, we need to shift our way of thinking to try to prevent waste ended up in the bins in the first place.
And, just as we did with recycling, we do this by making a few simple changes, such as buying products with less packaging, repairing items instead of throwing them away, and simply making the most of what we already have. This too will become a habit that will not only benefit your pocket, but the planet as well.