Government aims to take recycling "beyond the office and home"

Local councils, public sector bodies and private firms – such as retailers and property managers – who are responsible for managing public spaces are today being urged to increase the availability of recycling collection points as part of a major new government campaign launched to coincide with the start of Recycle Week.

Environment minister Joan Ruddock said that the aim of the new "Recycle on the Go" campaign "is to take recycling beyond the office and home into our public spaces".

She was speaking at the launch of a three month pilot scheme that will be rolled out by The Royal Parks authority in Hyde Park and will see clearly labelled recycling bins installed across the park.

"We know that most canned and bottled drinks are consumed outside the home," observed Ruddock. "Even the most dedicated recycler is unlikely to take these home with them and add them to their household recycling. Often, the only responsible option is to put them in litter bins, and this means that large quantities of aluminium, plastic and glass are slipping through the net and effectively become rubbish, end up in landfill, and are lost as a resource."

She added that by making recycling points more ubiquitous the government was aiming to make "recycling a natural part of everyday life no matter where people are".

To support the new campaign Defra is launching new good practice guide and a voluntary code of practice designed to help those responsible for public places to make recycling as easy as possible.

The department is now urging both public and private sector bodies with responsibility for public spaces to sign up to the voluntary code of practice.

The initiative is part of a wider government push to bolster recycling rates and limit the amount of waste currently being sent to landfill. The UK currently lags behind many of its European counterparts in terms of recycling rates and faces EU fines under its landfill directive if it cannot curb the amount of waste being sent to landfill.