Leeds residents are being encouraged to leave metal screw caps on glass bottles and jars when recycling them at the city’s bottle banks.
People can screw the aluminium tops back on empty bottles before dropping them off at recycling points and centres located across the city.
The ‘you can leave your cap on’ campaign has been designed by Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) to make sure that the aluminium caps from glass bottles such as wine, spirits and olive oil bottles are recycled.
Eye-catching stickers are being applied all 864 bottle bank sites in the city explaining why simply screwing the lid back on glass bottles can help us recycle more, and benefit the environment.
All aluminium and glass packaging is 100% recyclable; so every screw top, bottle and jar deposited in a glass bank can be transformed into something new, including more bottles, drink cans, mobile phones and even cars.
Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for the environment, said:
“The recycling potential of aluminium is enormous. Recycling the screw tops from glass bottles and jars is just as important as recycling the glass itself.
“The new year is the ideal time to get into the habit of screwing caps back on and helping to boost our recycling figures.”
Thanks to modern recycling methods aluminium bottle tops are easier to recover for recycling when they are collected with the glass, so it is now possible to recycle and continue re-using this precious metal over and over again.
Rick Hindley, Alupro executive director, said:
“The market for aluminium bottle closures is growing rapidly, particularly for wine bottles, so it is important that we get in the habit of recycling them so that the aluminium can be re-melted and re-used. Simply screwing the top back on the empty bottle before recycling is the simplest and easiest way for people to do their bit in recovering this valuable, sustainable and recyclable material.”
Rebecca Cocking, Head of Container Affairs at British Glass, who are part-funding the Alupro campaign in association with the European Aluminium Foil Association’s (EAFA) Closure Group, said:
“We see this as an excellent campaign that both informs and helps the consumer to recycle as much as possible. It also highlights the important role bring banks play in getting good quality glass back into the system, helping saving energy and raw materials.”
So when you next recycle your empties from the night before, remember “You Can Leave Your Cap On!”
