Youngsters get on board to boost Newham recycling

The Mayor has promised to make recycling easier and wants and to raise recycling rates by 12 per cent over the next two years.

At the moment Newham recycles 15 per cent of its household and garden waste - but wants to increase that to 22 per cent by next year and to 27 per cent by 2011.

A Cleaner, Greener environmental campaign has been launched to give residents and businesses more information about what can be recycled and how to do it.

Residents are being asked to sign four pledges - to recycle more using their orange bag, to recycle more paper, to recycle more plastic bottles and to recycle more cans

Three schools - Monega Primary School, Star Primary and Little Ilford Secondary School - have become the first to join in. They have dedicated recycling areas and pupils and staff will be recycling as much as possible.

Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: "At the moment we're not recycling enough of our waste and we must and will improve it. In addition we'll look at improving the services we provide. However we also need residents and businesses to do their bit. We want them to sign the pledge. It's something everyone, young and old, can get involved in."

Every home in the borough is also being visited by the council. Up to 400 properties are being visited daily by recycling advisors to help people recycle the right type of waste.

The borough's street sweepers will also be doing their bit. All recyclable rubbish they collect will be separated into orange bags on their barrows as they go along. Those orange bags will be sent straight for recycling instead of going to landfill sites, with more than 400 tonnes of waste recycled over the next year.

New 'on the go' recycling bins have been placed in 27 key locations across the borough to help people recycle more when they are out and about. Recycling bins placed outside rail stations collect thousands of newspapers from commuters that usually end up on the streets.

The orange bag recycling scheme can be used to recycle paper, cans, thin card and plastic bottles. These materials can also be recycled at more than 150 recycling banks across the borough, along with glass bottles, jars and textiles.

Residents also have free use of the Jenkins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre in Beckton to recycle a wide range of items including fridges, textiles, car batteries, wood, oil and rubble.

People can sign up to the recycling campaign by calling 020 8430 2000 or at any of the council's major events throughout the year.

Once people have pledged, details will be entered into a free prize draw for prizes such as compost bins, vouchers and fair trade food hampers.