Merton Council has put together an almost completely recyclable recycling and waste communications campaign.

All the leaflets posted through residents’ letter boxes telling them of their new waste collection day and the changes to the way in which the council now collects their recyclable waste were made from recycled paper – this paper can now be recycled a second time by residents.

The A4 signs on lampposts at the ends of all Merton streets notifying people of their new collection days are reusable and when they reach the end of their useful life will be recycled. The bigger banners – which remind residents they can now put all their recycling items in one box for the council to take away to sorting centres – are also fully recyclable.

Although only plastic bottles can be put in the home recycling bins, residents can take a wider range of plastics, including yoghurt pots, video cassettes and broken toys to the reuse and recycling sites at Weir Road and Garth Road.

People wanting to put their waste out the night before can place it in lidded dustbins, safe from foxes and other animals. Paper recycling can be left out in plastic bags to keep it dry making it easier to recycle.

Merton Council’s cabinet member for the environment Councillor David Simpson said: “Merton Council is leading the way when it comes to recycling and we were determined to make sure all our communications to residents telling them about changes to their recycling and rubbish collections were carried out using recyclable materials.

“We have also tried to make sure as many as possible of the communication materials we produced would not date so that we can reuse them, thereby making savings and providing our residents with value for money.

“So far we have had very positive comments from residents and the communications campaign has proved to be very effective. We would like to thank residents for embracing these changes to their recycling and for helping us ensure they were introduced with the minimum amount of disruption. We are absolutely committed to increasing recycling throughout the borough, cutting the amount of waste going to landfill and making Merton a more green and pleasant place to live.”

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