MP Celebrates 10 MillionPlastic Bottles Recycled

The Rt Hon David MacClean MP and members of Eden Community Recycling raised their glasses to recycling a grand total of 10 million plastic bottles. The MP for Penrith & The Border was happy to be handed his bubbly in a plastic cup to mark the occasion and to recycle it afterwards. ‘This is a tremendous achievement and I know the plastics banks are extremely popular. I use them myself’ said David MacClean of the successful recycling scheme. ‘I applaud Eden Community Recycling for the huge efforts they have made in diverting so much plastic waste from landfill and putting it to good use instead.’

To date, over 350 tonnes of plastics have been recycled in the scheme, the equivalent of 10,000,000 one litre plastic bottles and 13,000,000 carrier bags. Colin Nineham, Managing Director of Eden Community Recycling said of the milestone: ‘plastics recycling isn’t easy or cheap, particularly not in such a sparsely populated area as Eden . However, with a combination of some innovative thinking, dogged determination and sheer hard work, we think we’ve cracked it. I’d like to thank our band of committed staff and volunteers at Eden Community Recycling, who’ve made this scheme the success it is today.’

The Penrith based not-for-profit group, Eden Community Recycling started collecting plastics in early 2003 at their busy recycling centre in B&Q’s car park in Penrith, in response to overwhelming public demand. The scheme was an immediate hit and led to further plastics collection points in Penrith and at Greystoke. There are now a total of 23 plastics banks across Eden, all serviced by Eden Community Recycling, 13 of which are provided by Eden Community Recycling and 10 by Eden District Council. The latest plastics banks to be installed can be found at Flusco recycling centre and at Cumbria Campus, Newton Rigg.

David Maclean added: ‘I’m impressed with the provision of plastics recycling facilities in Eden . At this rate, it won’t be long before I’m invited back to celebrate 20 million plastic bottles recycled!’

All the plastics collected in Eden Community Recycling’s scheme are recycled in the UK and are manufactured into a number of different products, ranging from drainage pipes to refuse sacks, insulation materials and even clothes.