Go Greener Rudgwick Recycling by Fiona Sodha (first published in West Sussex County Times)
Go Greener Rudgwick (GGR) is a group of local volunteers who meet regularly to sort single use plastics that can’t be recycled at home, but can be left in the Rudgwick Youth Centre recycling bins. We work in conjunction with Sussex Green Living in Horsham to sort and box items to be sent to Terracycle, a recycling company, to make into new products.
The plastics collected include crisp & biscuit wrappers, toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, packaging & floss containers, biros & felt pens, household cleaning items such as marigold gloves, trigger heads, dishwasher flexible packaging, personal care & beauty products such as deodorants and empty foundation tubes, plant pots & trays, cheese wrappers and milk bottle tops.
When it started in September 2021, GGR met once a month. Eight months later the village has become so good at recycling their plastics that the need to sort has grown to every second week.
Rudgwick Youth get involved
The other development grown from this initiative is for young people to be involved. Rudgwick Youth Centre is now home to our first Eco-café, B-Green. B-Green opens weekly on a Tuesday from 3.30–5pm. It aims to encourage young people in years 7-9 at school, to come along and sort plastics. Not only does this activity serve the community but it also enables young people who care about the environment to meet like-minded folk in a relaxed café-style situation. We welcome other eco-warriors to come along and join in.
The plastic waste we collect is sent to one of the local TerraCycle Material Recovery Facilities. The first stage of the recycling process is to make the plastics smaller by being shredded or ground, and then they are melted and reformatted into pellets, flakes or powder. Finally, the material is used to make products which include outdoor furniture and decking, plastic shipping pallets, watering cans, storage containers and bins, tubes for construction applications, flooring tiles, playground surface covers and athletic fields.
Initially, recycling was carried out using three big open bins. However, in September the bins were replaced with six lidded bins bought from Horsham District Council, and now, with the impressive response from folk in Rudgwick, a further five bins have been added to the collection. Each of the eleven bins has been sponsored by one of our local businesses & includes: The Fox Inn; Jack and Gill Childcare & Forest School; Firebird Brewery; Baskets in Bloom, LTD; Motoward; Cranleigh Fixing Company; Rudgwick Pharmacy; Little Street; Rudgwick Wombles and DM Handyman Services. Local businesses have been very enthusiastic in supporting what we are doing, some offering to sponsor more than one bin.
Please do support us by taking your single use plastics to our new recycling bins at RYC or set up/support your own recycling centre.
By supporting us, you are not only reducing the amount of landfill Rudgwick generates, you are helping create new from old products and to channel resources into local charities e.g. Springboard in Horsham, Rudgwick Youth Centre and Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.
We are open 24/7. For more information go to FaceBook, email fionasodha@hotmail.com or visit our recycling page
By Fiona Sodha
