The city of Leeds have once again proven that they are one of the most forward thinking cities in the country when it comes to recycling. They have a campaign called the war on waste, or WOW, which encourages residents to recycle as much of their waste as possible, and it seems to be working because they have once again beaten the record.
It is currently estimated that Leeds are recycling nearly 50 percent of all of their household rubbish, which makes this year the most efficient year when it comes to recycling so far. Last year, around 8000 tonnes less waste was sent to landfill.
The waste that is collected and recycled is turned into useful products, rather than being sent to landfill, where it just damages the environment. The city council also have an excellent reputation for collecting bins, and all of the beans are collected on time nearly 100 percent of the time.
The city of also recently committed themselves to further reduction in the amount they are sending to landfill by signing up to a national waste collection plan which commits them to certain levels. This commitment is going to start by researching into what people like about their current recycling systems and, through this research, make improvements on the system so more people are encouraged to recycle.
Leeds are not just recycling through kerb collections however, and the council also take a great deal of effort to inform people about how they can recycle in their own home. They state that people should not just throw things away, and think carefully about whether this is an item that someone else might appreciate, or that they could give to charity.