The first MetalMatters campaign of 2015 sees people living in Wrexham being urged to make their ‘metals matter’ by recycling more of the estimated 58.4 million items of metal packaging they use in their homes every year.* 

Used metal packaging can be recycled endlessly into new products at a far lower cost to industry, and the environment, than making them from raw materials.

Research** has shown that people aren’t always aware that their used metal packaging will be transformed into new valuable everyday items when collected for recycling. The new campaign aims to help people understand what can be recycled and explain what happens to the metals collected.

The metal packaging manufacturing industry, recyclers and fillers have teamed up with Waste Awareness Wales and Wrexham Council to launch the ‘make your metals matter’ recycling campaign in Wales, to raise awareness of the importance of metal packaging recycling and to increase the amount collected from households.

If all the metal packaging used in the Wrexham area each year was collected for recycling it would save around 4,100 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent to taking over 1009 cars off local streets for a year***.

Aiming to spread this message throughout the area the communications campaign will reach more than 58,000 households and includes leaflets which will be sent to every home, online advertising and social media posts which will carry the ‘make your metals matter’ message. Roadshows at local supermarkets will also enable residents to get more information about what they can do to make a difference.

Cllr David Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Public Protection, said: “We’re calling on local residents to make their metals matter and help increase the areas recycling performance. We are committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and we hope the campaign will encourage our residents to recycle more of the metal packaging they use every day. Every can recycled saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours, so a small action like putting your empty bean tin in the recycling bag, box or bin can make a big difference. Our next target is reaching 70% by 2025 help us to reach our target.”

Andrew Osborne, Recycling Officer at Waste Awareness Wales said: “Metal packaging is a priority material to capture for Wales. Recycling as much of it as possible via Wrexham’s green box scheme will stop more of this valuable resource ending up in landfill”

Rick Hindley, Executive Director of project managers Alupro, said: “It is great to be able to work in partnership with Waste Awareness Wales and Wrexham County Borough Council to promote the recycling of metal packaging in the city. The MetalMatters programme has delivered significant increases in the volumes of metal packaging collected for recycling in other parts of the UK, so we’re aiming to repeat – and hopefully better this – in Wrexham.”

The campaign is being jointly funded by MetalMatters, an industry partnership comprising the UK’s leading producers, users and recyclers of metal packaging, Waste Awareness Wales and Wrexham County Borough Council.

 ENDS

* Number of million packaging items based on: 600 food tins, 380 drinks cans and 27 empty aerosols thrown out by an average household annually (1007 items), multiplied by approx. number of households 58,000 in Wrexham.

**Research carried out by the BCME (Beverage Can Makers Europe) during the inception stage of the MetalMatters programme.   Please use this web address to download the case study into the Pilot Programme which details this research www.metalmatters.org.uk/case-studies/pilot-programme .

***CO2 equivalence based on: The average household consumption of steel and aluminium packaging across 58,000 households in Greater Manchester, the CO2 saving if this entire quantity was recycled and the average emission of CO2 from a standard car per annum. Actual calculations are available.