The carbon-busting move, now being introduced to 28,000 homesis expected to prevent 5,096,000 foil containers from ending up in landfill sites every year.

Environmental Services Committee Chairman, Councillor Peter Craigsaid, “This service is great news for households who want to do more to help the environment. It answers calls from many local residents to increase the range of containers they can recycle at the kerbside. The aluminium used in cooking foil and trays can be recycled endlessly without losing quality; every tray recycled reduces the carbon footprint of the next one made, so this is a really effective way for households to help reduce carbon emissions, save energy and ease the pressure on our landfill sites for waste disposal.”

Aluminium foil is used in a wide range of everyday food packaging, all of which can be recycled under the new scheme. Councillor Craigis asking households to ensure that all trays are rinsed clean and clean cooking foil is scrunched into a ball before putting them in the bin for recycling.

All materials are taken to Bryson Recycling in Mallusk who sort them before sending them on for recycling. It is important to avoid putting any material in the ‘blue bin’which cannot be accepted such as plastic bags, glass, food or plastic food trays. If in doubt contact the Council for further information on 028 4461 0819.

Local resident Bernie McMullan from Clanvaraghan said, “I’m really pleased that this scheme is being launched. I’ve always hated throwing out all those foil trays; it seemed like such a waste. It’s great that we can now put them in with our other recycling.” 

According to Alupro, the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation, consumer demand for local authorities to include foil containers in their recycling collection services has never been higher.

Alupro Executive Director, Rick Hindley says, “Metal food and drink cans are already a familiar sight in most household recycling bins, but it’s great to see that Down District Councilis adding foil trays too. We use 16,000 tonnes of foil containers in the UK every year. Every tonne of aluminium recycled saves around nine tonnes of CO2, so taking part in this scheme will make a valuable contribution to reducing our impact on the environment.”

Alupro has teamed up with a range of leading manufacturers and retailers to launch a national campaign aimed at helping other local authorities to followDown District Council’slead, by adding foil to their household recycling collections.

The campaign, is backed by the major aluminium foil container manufacturers Coppice Alupack, Jena, Nicholl Food Packaging and Contital i2r. Other programme partners include Unilever, the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (BAMA) and steel packaging recycler Corus.

For more information on foil recycling visit www.alupro.org.uk.