As part of Recycling Week 2018, East Cambridgeshire District Council are supporting a nationwide campaign which aims to help increase the rate of recycling household metal throughout the district.

MetalMatters, which is managed by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), aims to reassure residents that they can recycle all metal packaging found around their home, including drink cans, food tins, aluminium foil, empty aerosols and metal lids from jars.

The campaign will see leaflets sent to every home and information will be displayed throughout the district and two local schools within the district will participate in MetalMatters workshops.

Director of East Cambs Street Scene, Jo Brooks, said: “In East Cambridgeshire alone we use over a million cans, foil trays and aerosols every year. Used metal packaging can be recycled into new products at a far lower cost to the environment than making them from raw materials. Making drinks cans from recycled material saves up to 95% of the energy and greenhouse gas emissions needed to make both aluminium and steel from raw materials."

The campaign forms part of the district-wide partnership and will see Peterborough City Council and Huntingdonshire District Council launch their MetalMatters campaign on the same day.

ENDS

What can I recycle?

All metal is endlessly recyclable.

Please put the following items in your blue recycling bin or bag:

• Drink cans
• Food tins
• Pet food tins
• Empty aerosols
• Metal lids from jars and bottles
• Kitchen foil (clean)
• Foil trays (clean)
• Sweet / biscuit tins

Please make sure your aerosols are empty and foil and foil trays / food tins have been wiped or rinsed before adding these items to your recycling. Don’t worry about removing labels on food tins and just pop the metal lid inside, if there is one.

Some household metal items cannot be collected with your kerbside recycling, such as those listed below – BUT they can still be recycled! Please take such metal waste to your nearest household waste and recycling centre.

These items can be recycled at your recycling centre:

• Empty paint tins & lids
• Garden tools
• Pots and pans
• Crockery
• Nuts and bolts
• Door handles
• Bikes
• Electrical items