Residents across Wychavon (Worcestershire, UK) are being urged to ‘Foil in Love with Recycling’, as part of a new campaign delivered in partnership with Alupro. 

With households now able to recycle their aluminium foil at the kerbside, the initiative aims to improve education around best practice recycling, tackle misconceptions and increase collection volumes across the district. 

Through an integrated communications campaign, residents are being advised to separate their used metal trays and cooking foil, scrunching it into a ball before putting it into their green recycling bin. Alongside a series of striking social media posts, the programme includes advertisements on petrol pumps, waste collection vehicles and at railway stations. 

Cllr Emma Stokes, Wychavon’s executive board member for resources, investment and innovation, said: “Our residents are already enthusiastic recyclers, and this campaign will help us to capture even more valuable material that might otherwise end up in the black bin. We also shouldn’t forget other types of aluminium, like empty aerosols and drinks cans, which are often overlooked. By working together, we can rescue more of this precious metal from the bin and put it into the recycling system where it belongs.”

Data suggests that more than 11 million aluminium cooking trays alone are used by households across Wychavon District every year. Thanks to the introduction of Simpler Recycling regulation, and the inclusion of foil within co-mingled kerbside collections, the council aims to reduce the volume of metal packaging being unnecessarily sent to landfill and further increase local recycling rates.

Tom Giddings, executive director of Alupro, added: “Aluminium is an amazing material that can be recycled again and again. Unfortunately, around 30% of all aluminium produced in the UK doesn’t make its way to the recycling bin and is therefore lost from the circular economy loop. This is something that needs to change and campaigns like this are a great way to get that message out to residents.”

To find out more about Alupro’s Foil in Love with Recycling campaign, or its other educational initiatives, visit: alupro.org.uk.