Recycling Schemes for Birmingham Residents Most households in the city now have a doorstep collection service. This collects paper and card from your blue box and glass, cans and plastic bottles from your green box every fortnight. On alternate weeks we collect your green sack containing garden waste. We hope to roll out the full service to everyone by the end of this year. You can also use the network of around 400 Local Recycling Centres or one of the five Household Recycling Centres in the city. Find out more by using the recycling menu or contact us. Coming soon! You will soon be able to find out your refuse collection and recycling collection days here on the Recycling website. In the meantime, please telephone 0121 303 1112 or email Recycling Find out more about the work of The Recycling Team.

Love food hate waste LATEST NEWS Birmingham City Council supports Love Food Hate Waste Campaign. A research report "The Food We Waste", published by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) revealed that the average household in Birmingham throws out £420 of good food a year. For some families with children it can be as much as £610 - which could have helped pay household bills. The cost of needlessly wasted food to UK households is £10 billion a year, £2 billion higher than previously estimated. The research gives detailed new insights into the nature and amount of food thrown away in the UK and is believed to be the first study of its kind. Research found that more than half the food thrown out, worth £6 billion a year is bought and simply left unused or untouched. For example, each day 1.3 million unopened yoghurt pots, 5,500 whole chickens and 44,000 ready meals are thrown away in the UK. The study revealed that £1 billion worth of wasted food is still "in date". The environmental impact of food waste is enormous, because of all the energy and resources which are used to get food to our homes and, when it reaches landfill, there is a major carbon impact. Tackling the problem of food waste would be the same as taking 1 in 5 cars off UK roads. For more tips on how to cut down on your food waste go to Love Food Hate Waste

Birmingham's recycling rate rockets Birmingham City Council has announced its recycling rate for 2007/08 and it shows an amazing 8% increase on the previous year. The Council's Fleet & Waste Management division have confirmed that it recycled 26.81% of the city's waste during 2007-2008 – a total of over 122,000 tonnes. Cllr Len Gregory, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Street Services said "recycling has been one of Birmingham’s great successes over the last year, with our rate for recycling and composting rising from 18.5% in 2006/07 to 26.81% in 2007/08 – an amazing 3% over our target. With the hard work and dedication of the Fleet and Waste Management division and the support of the people of Birmingham, we aim to be recycling 37% of our waste by 2012/2013".

Coke Can Bull Recycling Roadshows 2008 Coming to an event in 2008, the City Council recycling Roadshows and the Coke can bull..... Following on from the successful roadshows in 2007, the Recycling Team are taking the message to reduce, reuse and recycle out and about again this summer. The Team will be able to offer advice on how to cut down on what you throw away, how to get rid of unwanted items as well as composting and recycling. It will also give you the opportunity to see up close the replica of the Bullring Bull made out of cans (nicknamed "Gary") that was commissioned by Coca Cola to celebrate Recycle Week in June. The final date to view the bull and talk to the team will be on Saturday 13th / Sunday 14th September at Artfest in Centenary Square Watch out for events at a supermarket near you prior to Christmas where you can get tips on cutting down your food waste!

Buy a Compost Bin from just £17 Find out how easy it is to start composting and how you can get your compost bin.

Tetra Paks (drinks carton) Recycling Each year 55,000 tonnes of orange, soup and milk cartons are thrown away, equal to 2.3kg per person. But residents in Birmingham, instead of throwing the milk and juice cartons away can now recycle them. Working with ACE (Alliance for Carton Recycling) there are now facilities to collect “Tetra Pak” cartons at the Household Recycling Centres. We are hoping to include them in the doorstep green box in 2008 – watch this space for more information. For more information about Tetra Pak and how they are recycled go to www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk

Battery Recycling There are now household battery recycling bins at the Household Recycling Centres and to enable people to store the batteries, a reusable box is available. To get one call 0121 303 1112.