Businesses and Households Display Plenty of Heart for Recycling Rewards

More than 170,000 households across Northern Ireland are coming together with three local businesses to boost recycling levels and add value to the local economy all in aid of a good cause.

The yearlong  ‘Recycling Rewards’ initiative was developed by Bryson Recycling in a bid to encourage people to recycle more paper, glass and plastics. For every tonne of these materials collected through their kerbside box service, the partners have pledged to donate £1 to Children’s Heartbeat Trust.

Cherry Pipes, Encirc and Huhtamaki Lurgan all reprocess materials collected from Bryson Recycling on a weekly basis and work with household brands such as McDonalds, Bushmills and Baileys to provide quality products worldwide, including pipes, glass bottles and egg packaging.

Eric Randall, Director at Bryson Recycling, which is part of Bryson Charitable Group, Northern Ireland’s leading social enterprise  said; “Our weekly kerbside box collections result in high quality materials that are recycled locally, which in turn helps sustain employment levels and improve economic growth. This is a great opportunity for homeowners and businesses to support charity and raise the profile of recycling.

“Throughout the duration of this campaign we estimate that around 10,000 tonnes will be recycled and reprocessed by Cherry Pipes, Encirc and Huhtamaki. This will generate £9.1 million which will be circulated back into the local economy.

“Recycling is easy, everyone can do it. We would encourage everyone with a kerbside box service to recycle as much as they can to help support the local economy and provide a lifeline to the Children’s Heartbeat Trust who provide an excellent support network for local children affected by heart disease and their families."

Bryson Recycling sends the paper, plastic and glass they collect to the three campaign partners. Cherry Pipes transform plastics into pipes for the agricultural, civil engineering and construction industries at their sites in Crumlin, Lurgan and Dungannon. Glass is sent to Encirc in Derrylin which turn it into bottles for food and drinks companies. Huhtamaki in Lurgan (Ltd) is the world leader in environmentally friendly moulded fibre packaging, using 100% recycled raw materials located on the island of Ireland, they are the sustainable choice for high quality egg packaging and cup carriers. The collected paper is reprocessed into value adding products that are supplied to McDonalds and all the main retailers in the UK and Ireland.

Lynn Cowan, Fundraiser for Children’s Heartbeat Trust added; “We are very excited and extremely grateful to be working with the ‘Recycling Rewards’ campaign and partners involved.  This opportunity will allow us to raise more awareness of heart disease in children and our work in local communities across Northern Ireland. The funds raised from the 'Recycling Rewards' campaign will help us to continue to provide practical and emotional support to children and young people with heart disease and their families across Northern Ireland”.

Weekly household collections are carried out a cross five council areas; Antrim & Newtownabbey, Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon, Belfast, Lisburn and Castlereagh and Mid & East Antrim.

For more information on Bryson Recycling and collections visit www.brysonrecycling.org.