Submitted by Mike Grenville on Fri, 05 Mar 2004 15:50

A free 'Recycling Reminder Text Service' has been launched to remind residents in Northern Ireland to put out their recycling bin for collection.

The initiative by Northern Ireland’s Lisburn City Council is part of a programme to increase the level of recycling across the City.

Residents that are currently served by the kerbside paper recycling service will be able to receive a text message on their mobile phone, reminding them on the evening before to put their recycling bin out for collection by 7am on the following morning.

The reminder service will be provided free of charge. The only cost to residents will be the first text to join the service. Residents wishing to use the recycling text reminder service should text the keyword Lisburn followed by details of their actual address (eg. Lisburn 56 any Road) to 61123.

Councillor James Tinsley, Chairman of the Environmental Services Committee said that the Council was keen to look at new ways to get the message across that it was vital to recycle.

“With so many people now owning mobile phones, we felt that this text messaging service was a quick and effective way to communicate directly with our residents,” he said.

Councillor Tinsley outlined how this was the latest initiative in a rolling waste management plan and the Council's Recycling Initiatives were continuing to expand with encouraging results.

“Over 16,000 homes have already been provided with a recycling bin and we plan to increase this to over 30,000 households by this Autumn. We have improved our recycling rates from 2.3%in 1999 to over 8% in 2003.”

One of the areas the Council is keen to emphasise is what can actually be put in the recycling bins.

Suitable paper products to be put in the bin include, newspapers, magazines, catalogues, junk mail, and non-window envelopes. Unsuitable material at present includes cardboard, hardback books, window envelopes and shredded paper. These can be disposed through the many recycling banks across the City.

Colin McClintock, Director of Environmental Services explained: “Each house in Lisburn disposes of an average 122kg of paper every year and we want to recycle as much of this as possible. Only suitable paper should be put in the bin. Shredded paper, for example, should be avoided, as the shredding process weakens the binding properties required for re-use in the production of paper.”

“I would encourage all relevant householders to use this new text service. It is also important that glass, textiles and cans are recycled through our comprehensive network of recycling banks across the City, “ concluded the Director.

Lisburn City Council plan to extend its recycling scheme to include card, plastic bottles and metal cans at the start of next year.

www.lisburncity.gov.uk