HAVE you ever wondered what to do with empty crisp packets, Pringles cans, biscuit wrappers and used toothpaste tubes?

This plastic packaging often ends up in the black bag rubbish, to be incinerated, but what if there was a way to recycle it and raise money for a good cause?

Alison (Ali) Humphreys was on hand to tell people that this is a reality, as she spoke to local residents about ‘Recycling for Charity’ at Launceston Library on January 24, a scheme which began in South Hill, near Callington, just over a year ago.

The concept is simple — it aims to encourage people to try to recycle items which may be thought of as ‘unrecyclable’ or for black bag rubbish.

Ali, who confessed her garage at home is packed with people’s items to be recycled, brought her colourful display to the library and was welcomed by Launceston Library manager, Andi Snook.

The main aim of Recycling for Charity is to encourage people to think more carefully about what they are throwing in the bin, and to consider recycling as much as possible.

Ali said: “It’s about trying to recycle items people don’t realise can be recycled. A lot of the time, people just throw things out in their black bags which goes to be incinerated, wasting valuable resources and this doesn’t have to be the case.”

The introduction to Recycling for Charity is just one in a series of promotions at the library, which will aim to highlight the need for a more environmentally focussed society, in light of the climate crisis and other environmental issues.

Andi added: “As a library, we thought, what if we could highlight this issue? As we’re so heavily linked with Cornwall Council, it’s a main drive now that we have to be recycling, so every month we will pick something to spread the word to local people.

“We have the seagull bags here — some people might say they don’t get many seagulls, but you can still get rubbish strewn across the road, so these bags prevent that. We also have dog poo stuff, so we’re trying to introduce lots of different things to help people be more environmentally conscious.”

Recycling for Charity, while encouraging people to recycle as much as possible, also educates households about what can and can’t be recycled.

Ali said: “People have got this idea that if they get their recycling wrong, it’s going to contaminate the whole recycling bin or lorry, but actually they take it away and sort through it at the end. It’s all about education.”

Ali said the scheme is ‘driven by the manufacturers sponsoring the programme’, with household name brands such as Hovis, Whiskers, Pringles, McVitie’s and Colgate being among those who are taking part in the recycling programme.

All items are collected by SHARE — South Hill Association for Renewable Energy — a community group set up six years ago to look at energy saving which has a number of active projects. Items are sent to Terracycle, an organisation which reuses, upcycles and recycles waste in a variety of innovative ways.

Supported by D S Smith, who provide cardboard boxes for items to be dropped into, there are a number of drop-off points across the local area, with Tesco Launceston, Launceston Library, Pets at Home and M4KE amongst them.

Ali explained more about SHARE: “We’re a small but active renewable energy group which started six years ago. We have installed solar panels on our parish hall roof. A year after, we put 250 solar panels on an agricultural building. We’ve also been planting trees and this year we have planted another 400 young saplings. We are now running out of space to plant more and are looking for land owners to work with us to plant a patch of land or small woodland.”

The library’s capacity as a group meeting location each week will be beneficial to the Recycling for Charity initiative, with a number of children’s and mum-baby groups meeting at the central location in Launceston.

Andi said: “We have a baby group every Friday and story time every Tuesday, so it will be really useful to get mums on board as they will be able to recycle their kids’ snack wrappers.”

It is important to connect with local groups, organisations and schools in the community, Ali explained: “I’ve been in touch with local schools and lots of other groups such as the Brownies and Scouts, who have been brilliant. You’ve got to get a strong network of people and more connections — it’s about connecting up the dots.

“Crisps and snacks are the biggest thing for us. Over the last six months we’ve collected over 700 kilogrammes of waste and that equates to about £1,000, which is fantastic.

“We nominate a charity to benefit from this, and this time it is Kicks Count, which works to reduce the UK stillbirth rate by educating mums to be aware of the importance of their baby’s movements.”

Once Terracycle receives the waste, it can be made into new products such as picnic benches, children’s toys and more.

Recycling for Charity is more important than ever, with the climate crisis being at the forefront of the world’s pressing issues.

Launceston Library has experienced the community’s concern over current environmental issues, being a haven for children and young people to read and learn. Andi said: “The Australia bushfires have been a huge thing for the kids. Kids are just beside themselves about it — climate change, and the recent incidents in Australia, have really opened their eyes to it.”

Ali continued: “My ideal thing would be to keep the Launceston items in Launceston. That way you can monitor how much you are throwing away.

“Any local groups can get involved — it doesn’t have to be kids-related — even if it’s the local WI wanting to do something, any groups that can promote it, we’d love to hear from them.

“We’ve got all sorts of varied locations [for drop-off points] — South Petherwin, in Coads Green in the old phone box, and Tre, Pol & Pen — convenient for lots of different people.

“It’s education that’s the main thing, but Cornwall Council have got to do a better job to get the message out about their recycling, I feel.”

Launceston Library will be a drop-off point for these specific items for Kicks Count for the foreseeable future, with the cardboard boxes being located in the entrance of the library.

A full list of items that can be recycled and locations are available at south-hill.co.uk/charity-recycling

If anyone has some land to spare for trees to be planted, or has any queries about Recycling for Charity, contact [email protected] or Ali on [email protected]