Flat-dwellers given recycling facilities in city ‘green’ drive

Lincoln Green is one of the latest communities to benefit, with Leeds City Council and East North east Homes providing communal recycling facilities to all council-managed multi-storey flats.

They allow residents to recycle paper, card, plastics, cans and aerosols as well as glass.

The target is to have such facilities available to every such council flat by the autumn.

It is part of the wider programme to bring recycling to every home in Leeds.

Communal recycling facilities like this have already been introduced on the Beckhill Estate in the Meanwood area of Leeds.

As the new facilities are being introduced in each area, residents are being given information to make them aware of them as well as tips on how to recycle.

Leeds City Council’s executive board member for environmental services and licensing, Mark Dobson, said: “Lincoln Green is the latest area of the city to benefit from these communal recycling facilities, but not only are we wanting to ‘put the green into Lincoln Green’, we want that message of how important recycling is to reach everyone in Leeds.

“Recycling is hugely important – it reduces our need to bury rubbish as landfill, so it not only makes Leeds a cleaner greener place, but it also saves the city money.”

He added: “If everyone in Leeds could stop for a second and think when throwing something in the bin if it could be recycled instead that could make a real difference.”

This year’s National Recycling Week runs until Sunday and in Leeds it signals the start of a year-long campaign by the city council to encourage more to recycling.

A major part of the council’s campaign is focused on those living in multi-storey flats.

Earlier this year, the council revealed it had taken also steps to reduce its carbon footprint by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide by 3.64 per cent across the council.

The authority achieved the reduction by a variety of methods including increased recycling and by making energy-saving improvements in local authority buildings.