This year we're ‘Stepping It Up’ in the fight against Climate Change

Published: 20 September 2021

Derby City Council is proud to ‘Step It Up’ this Recycle Week in the biggest and best Recycle Week ever. Recycle Now and Derby City Council are asking residents to ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against climate change and take action to protect our environment through even better recycling habits.

This year Recycle Now welcomes a celebrity ambassador to front Recycle Week and is delighted to be working with TV Presenter, Invictus Games Medallist and Strictly Come Dancing Star JJ Chalmers for the national campaign.
JJ is a keen environmentalist and is partnering with Recycle Now to inspire the nation to ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against climate change.

JJ Chalmers said:

“I’m thrilled to be part of this year’s campaign. I’m passionate about the environment and how we can battle climate change. I am delighted to be working with the Recycle Now team on what has become a really important week of action across the UK. I really want to encourage people to look at what they are doing and how they can ‘Step It Up’ and do even more… even better.”

Recycle Now and Derby City Council are asking the nation to ‘Step It Up’ and perfect our recycling habits.

Getting recycling right

Latest research from Recycle Now reveals that almost 9 out of 10 people now recycle.

However, 55% of households put items in the general rubbish bin that can be recycled; including foil, aerosols, and plastic toiletry (shampoo and conditioner bottles), plastic trays and cleaning and bleach bottles. This, say Recycle Now and Derby City Council, is where we need to ‘Step It Up’. We can all help fight climate change by recycling because recycling currently saves 18 million tonnes of CO2 every year, which is the same as taking 12 million cars off the road.

Every year Recycle Week unites retailers, brands, waste management companies, trade associations, national & local governments and the media to focus on how recycling can play a part in limiting the pressure we put on the planet through our use of natural resources.

Recycle Now and Derby City Council are here to help! Derby is a city of recyclers – but there are some simple things that we can all do to make our recycling even better.

Top tips for recycling in Derby:

• Recycle more of these items:
  • Clean foil
  • Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
  • Cardboard and paper
  • Aerosols
  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Tins and cans
  • Cartons
• Make sure these never go in the recycling bin:
  • Plastic bags, films and wrappers
  • Crisp packets
  • Nappies

And if you’re at all unsure about how to recycle a specific item, check the A-Z of Recycling and Rubbish.

Craig Stephens, Campaign Manager for Recycle Now, said:

“This year we’re focussed on how recycling can help fight climate change and how by recycling even better we can have a bigger impact on our environment. Here in Derby it’s no different – more and more of us are recycling, so the next step is to make sure we get our recycling right. So come on, Derby, keep up the great work and let’s make Derby’s recycling better than ever before!”

Councillor Jerry Pearce, Cabinet Member for Streetpride and Public Spaces added:

"Like climate change, recycling is everyone’s business. We’re all waking up to the threat climate change poses and the small, simple steps we can take to reduce its impact. By recycling more of the right things in the right way, every resident in the city can know that they’re doing their bit to help."

For the second year running major brands are putting their support/backing behind the Week by donating to help fund it including: - Amazon, British Soft Drinks Association, Britvic, Coca-Cola, Coop, Danone, innocent drinks, Listerine, McDonald’s, The Natural Source Waters Association, Ocado, PepsiCo, Prevented Ocean Plastic, and Waitrose and Partners UK

To find out more about Recycle Week, and to find out what you can and can’t recycle where you live, visit the Recycle Now website.  

Waste