Shropshire firm wastes no time in helping charity cardboard collection
A Shropshire waste management firm has lent a helping hand to a community project that aims to raise money for charity by recycling cardboard left-over from Christmas.
Telford-based Pink Recycling and Waste has processed nearly three tonnes of waste cardboard collected as part of environmental organisation Transition Town Shrewsbury’s ‘Cardboard Christmas’ initiative, a scheme set-up following the scrapping of council-run kerbside collections back in 2011.
Earlier this month, more than 800 residents dropped off their waste cardboard at four collection points set up in Shrewsbury, plus another in Ludlow, while volunteers from by Transition Town Shrewsbury also went door-to-door and gathered cardboard from a further 250 homes, schools, and offices across the town.
Approximately 15 tonnes of waste was collected in total, which will now be sold-off and recycled, with all proceeds raised shared between Severn Hospice, Hope House, and Friendly Neighbours. Seven 480 kg lorry loads of cardboard totalling 2.78 tonnes have already been processed at Pink Recycling and Waste’s purpose-built recycling facility in Ketley, successfully diverting the waste from landfill.
Alistair Stewart, Head of Sales and Operations at Pink Recycling and Waste, explained: “This project is fantastic on so many levels, and we are delighted to have been involved for a second year. Not only does it give residents a practical solution to dispose of their Christmas cardboard in an environmentally-friendly way, it also helps raise general awareness about the importance of recycling, as well as generating some much-needed funds for a number of very worth local charities.”
Alison Thomas, of Transition Town Shrewsbury, commented: “We are hugely grateful yet again for the support from Pink Recycling and Waste. Cardboard makes up about 10% of all household rubbish, and for every tonne of cardboard recycled, it saves 17 trees, two cubic metres of landfill space, and around 4,000 Kilowatt hours of electricity, so to have collected such a huge amount – even more than we managed last year – is a fantastic testament to everyone’s support. People came on foot, by bike, skateboard and disability scooter, some even pushed wheelbarrows and prams full of card, it was a perfect example of the local community coming together for the common good.”
