Now you can recycle aluminium foil and trays

Larne Borough Council announced it is making it easier for people to recycle more at home through its fortnightly blue bin recycling scheme by accepting clean foil trays such as those used for take-away food, pie and quiche cases and oven-ready meals, as well as clean aluminium foil.

The carbon-busting move, now being introduced to 14,000 homes is expected to prevent 254,8000 foil containers from ending up in landfill sites every year.

Director of Environmental Services Philip Thompson said: “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.”

Larne Borough Council is asking households to ensure that the all trays are rinsed clean and clean cooking foil is scrunched into a ball before being put in the bin for recycling.

All materials collected currently go 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

Ann Marshall from Dixon Park Community Association welcomed the move. She 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 said: “Metal food and drink cans are familiar sights in most household recycling bins, but it’s great to see that Larne Borough Council is 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 launched a national campaign aimed at helping other local authorities to follow the council’s lead, by adding foil to household recycling collections. More information on foil recycling is available at www.alupro.org.uk.