Here are a few New Year’s resolutions to help everyone get into the habit of reducing waste:

• Reduce your waste – buy only what you need and try to buy with little packaging.
• Reuse what you can – buy products that can be reused (rechargeable batteries, bottles instead of cans etc), take old carrier bags or reusable bags with you when you go shopping and use cleaned bottles and jars to store odds and ends in. Donate your old clothes and books to charity shops.
• Recycle as much as you can – and buy products with recycled content. Use our current recycling service and bring sites to recycle things.
• Donate your furniture – if you’re looking to replace your fridge or freezer this year but it’s still in working order, don’t throw it away; donate it to the Surrey Reuse Network instead. Check out Furnistore, a furniture re-use charity, who are based in Redhill.
• Look out for details over the coming months of what you can recycle as part of the Council’s new recycling and refuse collection service, which will collect more materials from your home, and pledge to recycle more when it starts.

For more information, please visit the Borough Council’s new recycling and refuse collection service page or scan the links on the right for relevant local websites.

Spring is an ideal and easy time to begin composting so Surrey residents are being encouraged to go green and start, to help reduce the amount of food and garden waste going to landfill.

To help residents get started, there are discounted bins available through the Surrey Waste Partnership, and step-by-step guides available online at www.surreywastepartnership.org.uk on how to make compost and other useful advice.

Out of a total 536,000 tonnes of household waste currently produced in Surrey each year, it’s estimated that around a third could be composted which would save the county an estimated £8.7 million in reduced landfill and green waste disposal costs each year.

Redhill’s representative on the Surrey Waste Partnership, Councillor Julian Ellacott, said:

“The survey also showed that there are now almost 200,000 households composting in Surrey, and we know that in our Borough we have provided over 15,000 composters in only the last few years.

“Composting is a win-win, reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill and helps residents by creating free, good quality compost for their garden, in the most natural way.  I haven’t looked back since getting a composter of my own”

If you’re not already composting in your garden, visit our website or call 0844 571 4444 to find out how easy it is to start.”

The sorts of items that can be composted include everyday food waste such as tea bags, egg boxes and vegetable peelings, and garden waste such as grass cuttings, twigs and wood chippings.

To find out more about how to get composting or buy a reduced-price bin, starting from only £14.00 visit www.surreywastepartnership.org.uk or call 0844 571 4444. You’ll also find lots of other helpful tips and information there too.

The Surrey Waste Partnership is made up of Surrey County Council and the 11 district and borough councils in the county.

If you are thinking of giving your home a makeover without spending a fortune or hunting for treasure at bargain prices why not visit one of Surrey Reuse Network´s furniture showrooms.

For more information about the network and contact details visit the Surrey Reuse Network website or call free on 0800 082 0180 (charges apply when using a mobile phone).

The Surrey Reuse Network is made up of six charity enterprises that collect donated good quality furniture and kitchen appliances and sell them at affordable prices.  In Redhill the local charity enterprise is Furnistore, which has been working in the Borough for many years already.

The primary objectives are to:

• help the disadvantaged in the community to turn houses into homes;
• offer volunteering opportunities, particularly to long term unemployed and those with learning difficulties and mental health problems, that help them gain confidence and experience as basis of self-reliance;
• offer training opportunities in skills including warehouse management, furniture and electrical goods repair and refurbishment and woodwork that act as a springboard to paid employment;
• divert household items that are too good to be thrown away from landfill.

Within the last year the collective activities of the network has facilitated:

• Over 22,000 household items to be diverted from landfill to reuse.
• Over £40,000 savings to Surrey taxpayers in landfill costs avoided.
• Over 100 volunteering opportunities.
• Ten people moving into full time employment.

“Love your electricals – set them free” is the call from Reigate & Banstead Borough Council which is using Recycle Week 2010 (21 to 27 June) to encourage residents to recycle their unwanted electrical items. Recycle Week aims to encourage us all to think about the many, easy ways we can waste less and make more of the resources we have and the emphasis this year is on recycling small electrical appliances.

Research has shown that many of us continue to hang on to small electricals when we no longer have a use for them, whether they are broken or have been replaced with the latest model. On average, each person in the UK buys three new electrical items each year and three quarters of us admit to having at least one old or unused electrical item in our house, with one in 10 hoarding five or more of these items.1

Executive Member for Environment, Councillor Julian Ellacott said:

“Recycle Week is a great opportunity for everyone to take a look at their recycling habits and see what they can do to recycle more and waste less. From recycling more of our everyday items like glass and plastic bottles to reducing our food waste, using reusable bags or trying out new things like home composting, there’s lots of things we can do to help cut back on the amount of waste we send to landfill.

“And now there are even more ways to give your unwanted electrical items a new lease of life and make more of the resources we have. The Council and Recycle Now has teamed up with British Heart Foundation this year, so if your old electrical item can still switch on, why not donate it at your local British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical Store and you will also be helping to raise money for charity.

“Old or broken electrical items, including low energy bulbs, can be recycled at your local Community Recycling Centre (formally known as the tip) either on Horley Road, Redhill or Blenheim Road, Epsom.”

The nearest BHF stores that accept electricals are located in Crawley and Wallington – visit www.bhf.org.uk for details.

Alternatively, if the item is in good working order you could ask relatives or friends if they would like it or swap or sell it online (for example through Reigate Freecycle).  A number of retailers will also accept your old small electricals for recycling in store when you buy new ones.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s recycling roadshow trailer will be at the Priory Park Community Festival on Saturday 26 June, so come along and get advice on all your recycling and composting needs. There will also be a competition to win a DAB digital radio and eco kettle.

Small electricals: fast facts from Recycle Now

* On average, each person in the UK buys three new electrical items each year on average, or 173 million nationally

* Three quarters of us admit to having at least one old or unused electrical item in our house, with one in 10 hoarding five or more of these items

* 38% of us have at least one electrical item from the last decade stored in our homes unused

* Only a 1/3 of people (35%) believe electrical goods can be recycled

* More than a third of people (35%) say they don’t know where to take electricals to be recycled

* A third of us (30%) say we recycle our broken small electricals, but a further third of us say we throw them out with the rest of our rubbish

* Kettle and mobile phones top the list for goods that have been replaced in the past year (29% have replaced a kettle and 25% a phone)

* 83% would make more of an effort to recycle electricals in the future having been made aware they could

* Amazingly enough, some of us still have unused electricals from the 60s and 70s in our homes including original stylophones, lava lamps and the trusty teasmaid.

* Over the past year, EA figures suggest that only 14.5% of small electricals are recycled

* For every 7kg of small electricals bought last year – the average amount per person – only a fraction (1.3kg) was sent to be recycled.

The nearest British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical Stores are: Wallington – 120 Woodcote Road, Wallington, Surrey, SM6 0LY, phone 0844 499 4174; Crawley – 44-46 The Broadway, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1HG, phone 0844 499 4182.

Households could save up to £50 a month simply by cutting down on food waste and re-using leftovers, according to new research.

Figures released by the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) estimate a family could significantly cut their food bills simply by being more careful about the amount of food they buy and cook.

And a survey conducted on behalf of the Surrey Waste Partnership, made up of Surrey County Council and the 11 district and borough councils, revealed two-thirds of local residents throw away food that could be re-used.

Fruit, vegetables and salad are among the foods that most often end up in the bin, with half of those surveyed admitting they throw away completely unopened packs of food.

Such waste contributes to the total 107,000 tonnes of food and drink thrown away in Surrey each year – a fifth of the county’s annual total waste.  The cost of disposing of food waste alone is around £7.6 million.

County Councillor Lynne Hack, Redhill county councillor and Surrey’s Cabinet member for the Environment, said:

“Most of us are guilty of buying too much food, or cooking too much and throwing food away and it all adds up,

“Nationally we waste more than £12 billion worth of food and drink each year. If we can change our behaviour in Surrey we can make a real difference to that total.

“Small changes to shopping and cooking habits can significantly reduce food bills for individuals, couples and families.

“And if the county can save just three per cent of the total waste produced annually, the county council will save more than £1 million in waste disposal costs.”

To help householders make the most of their food and drink the Surrey Waste Partnership has set up a website www.lovefoodsurrey.com to provide information, tips and advice, and several recipes designed to make the most of left-overs.

The website supports the national Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which has been endorsed by celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver.

Lynne Hack added

“The amount of food thrown away is such a waste of resources – just think about all the energy, water and packaging used in food production, transportation and storage.

”By reducing the amount of food wasted we can make a real difference to the environment.  Lovefoodsurrey.com has already given me some great advice which will help me reduce food waste in my household, and I’m looking forward to seeing what other tips local people have to offer.”

Waste savers

Make the most of your food shopping by planning meals in advance and stocking up with essential ingredients.

Storing food sensibly can help it last longer so keep bananas away from other fruit, keep apples in the fridge, wrap cheese in tin foil and if only using part of a pepper leave the stem and seeds intact. Putting a piece of bread in with cookies in an airtight container can keep the cookies fresh and moist.

There’s not much that can’t be frozen if it’s not needed including vegetables and herbs, grated cheese for toppings, meat cut up in strips for stir-frying and chopped up fruit that can be used for smoothies.

Some food can be given a new lease of life even if it looks like it’s ready to be thrown away, for example soaking wilted greens in cold water for 30 minutes shocks and revives them for a green salad or sandwich. And stale cereal, crisps or nuts can be baked for between three and five minutes and put in an airtight container, giving them up to five extra days’ life.

Keep an eye on ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates. The ‘best before’ dates are more about quality than safety, except for eggs. So when the date runs out it doesn’t mean that the food will be harmful, but it might begin to lose its flavour and texture.

What do you think?

The Surrey Waste Partnership is currently revising its waste plan and is welcoming residents views on proposed targets and waste disposal options.

Questionnaires are available from libraries and district and borough council offices, or can be completed online at www.surreywastepartnership.org.uk.

The results of the consultation will be published in the autumn.

Reader offer

Composting garden waste, leftovers and food waste including banana skins, eggshells and teabags, is another way of avoiding food waste going to landfill, and creates a free fertilizer for the garden.

With this in mind the Surrey Waste Partnership is offering residents the opportunity to buy a home composting bin from just £14 – less than half the recommended retail price.

To take advantage of this offer visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/getcomposting or call 0844 571 4444.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council emerged from last Thursday’s Severnside Achievement in Recycling Awards with two awards, beating off competition from far larger organisations in its bid to have the recycling achievements of local residents recognised in these national awards.

At the awards ceremony in Cardiff the Borough Council won the Recycling Partnership Award, beating Tesco and Cardiff City Council, which recognised the Council’s involvement of local residents in recent and planned changes to the local recycling service, such as the new Garden Waste scheme and the recent consultation on the waste Blueprint.

The Council’s Recycling Officer, Lizzy Jones, also won a Recycling Champion award, recognising the achievements of the individuals behind the recycling success of their overall organisations.

Cllr Julian Ellacott, Redhill councillor and the Council’s Executive Member for Environment, said:

“It is an impressive achievement for the Council’s staff and local residents to be recognised in this way, beating the likes of Tesco and Cardiff City Council.

The changes that we have introduced in the past few years have improved the refuse and recycling service, led to significant financial savings, reduced our carbon footprint and of course increased our recycling rates. We have also set out our ambitious Blueprint for increasing recycling through kerbside collection of glass, plastics and food.”

The awards were sponsored by Severnside Recycling, the largest UK fibre recycler and one of the UK’s leading recycling and waste management companies, who recover circa 1.9 million tonnes of material annually.

Severnside’s national commercial manager, Tim Price, said:

“We are extremely excited for this year’s awards ceremony. It is a privilege for us to work with the organisations that have been nominated and it is a great to be able to bring so many like-minded, environmentally-aware individuals together for what promises to be a fantastic day”.

Surrey County Council has launched an online toolkit to show businesses how to recycle and dispose of their waste properly.

It costs taxpayers at least £1 million each year to dispose of trade waste that has been dumped illegally at community recycling centres, recycling bank sites and via household waste collections.

The council’s new online environmental toolkit Surrey Green Steps aims to reduce these costs and help businesses by providing them with all the information they need to dispose of their waste properly.

This includes information about waste legislation relevant to their business sector as well as tips and advice on how to make their company greener.

Dr Lynne Hack, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said:

“We know that many businesses are simply too busy to keep track of the ever changing waste legislation but they do need to comply with it. Many businesses don’t realise they risk a fine if they don’t dispose of waste properly.

“Surrey Green Steps has comprehensive information about all the different types of legislation and will help them find a recycling site to take their business waste to, or a collection service which will take it away for them.”

One collection option is through a special arrangement Surrey County Council has set up with waste management company MITIE. The team at MITIE can offer expert advice on the best way for businesses to deal with waste and either organise a bespoke collection service or a collection round for a number of businesses in the same area.

More information is available from www.surreygreensteps.com.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s recycling team is hitting the road over the coming months to bring the “reduce, reuse and recycle” message out to residents to help them waste less, and hopefully save money at the same time.

The Council’s recycling roadshow trailer is visiting community events and family fun days around the Borough, starting with the St George’s Day celebrations in Horley on 24 April.

Officers from the Council’s Neighbourhood Services team will be on hand to answer questions, give advice about recycling, provide reusable bags and information to residents.

Cllr Julian Ellacott, Executive Member for Environment, said:

“I would encourage residents to come along and talk to our recycling roadshow team to get your recycling and waste questions answered and find out more about how they can reduce, reuse and recycle.

“As well as free reusable bags, there will be special offers on compost bins and water butts, advice on composting and lots of helpful hints and tips on how to send less waste to landfill.”

The recycling roadshow is visiting the following events:

• Saturday 24 April: St George’s Day Celebrations, Horley
• Monday 3 May: Kingswood Village Fete
• Saturday 26 June: Priory Park Community Festival, Reigate
• Saturday 3 July: Merstham Village Fete
• Friday 10 September: Redhill Farmers Market
• Sunday 12 September Banstead Woods Countryside Day

Cllr Ellacott added:

“If you are unable to visit us on our roadshow you can still find out lots of information on recycling and what you can do to cut down your waste from our website www.reigate-banstead .gov.uk, or by calling our Help Line on 01737 276000”

Following the disruption to refuse and recycling collections over the past few weeks, caused by the combination of bad weather and Christmas, collections are returning to normal this week and residents in Redhill should expect collections on their normal collection day this week, of refuse and recycling.

Thank you to all residents for your patience during these difficult weeks – Council staff have tried their very best to provide service during this period.  Thank you also to those who have sent in positive comments, such as this one:

“As a local resident I was very surprised to see the waste collection of the household waste taking place in the inclement weather. The operation was above and beyond the level of service expected, with the cart being given a clear path by the use of mechanical digger. I know we had not had a collection for a couple of weeks, but any normal person would have realised why.

Could you please pass this email on to the operatives and mangers who undertook the actions. it really was beyond what was expected in adverse weather conditions.”

The recycling collection for real Christmas trees, which has continued to be successful this year so far, will also take place again this week.

As usual, please leave your refuse and recycling out by 6am on your usual collection day.  If your bins are not collected by the end of the usual day please contact me, Cllr.Ellacott@Reigate-Banstead.gov.uk

As a result of the improved weather conditions today, refuse collections are now returning to normal, but for the latter part of this week will happen one day later than usual.

Therefore wheelie bin collections in Redhill which usuall happen on a Friday will happen this Saturday, 16th January.  This may include recycling in some areas, but if it is not collected this week please set it out next week.

Assuming the weather gets back to normal all collections will be made as usual from next week onwards.

Natural Christmas trees will be collected this week or next week – please leave them out with all decorations removed.

Cllr Julian Ellacott, who is a Redhill councillor and also oversees the Borough Council’s refuse and recycling service, comments “The past few weeks has seen a very difficult combination of circumstances for the refuse collection service – two separate weeks of bad weather, separated by the Christmas break when the service is limited by closure of the landfill site.

“The Council has delivered the best service it can each day in view of the conditions, for example using tractors to transport rubbish from areas which could not be reached by lorry.  Assuming conditions get better we should be back almost to normal next week.  I apologies once again for residents who have been inconvenienced by this, and thank them for their forbearance.”