WRAP launches online ‘Recycling Locator’
The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has launched a new online ‘Recycling Locator’ tool that enables householders to find out what materials they can recycle and where.
Set up as part of WRAP’s ‘Recycle Now’ campaign, the online tool was created with involvement from Waste Awareness Wales (WAW), WRAP Northern Ireland (WNI), and compliance scheme Valpak with the aim of ‘making recycling information clearer and more straightforward for householders.’
How the tool works
Householders can access local recycling information by inputting their postcode or town, or searching by material type.
The tool then identifies on a map the nearest recycling points to that location (detailing distances from the postcode entered and directions on how to get there), as well as details of kerbside collections.
A photographic guide provides a visual confirmation of the kerbside collection system, identifying which materials go in what bins, as well as any additional sorting information, such as ‘fold cardboard’ or ‘squash bottles’.
The tool also uses data supplied by Valpak to provide details of local ‘bring banks’, as well as directions to the locations from a given address.
Local authorities can update the information on the database via a live feed from WRAP’s online Local Authority Recycling Scheme Updater (LARSU).
Websites urged to host the Recycling Locator
The new recycling tool is an updated version of the previous ‘Postcode Locator’ tool, which was first launched on the Recycle Now website in 2004. WRAP chose to redevelop the service in light of ‘changes to the materials that can be recycled and how people access information via the internet’, and to complement the recently-updated Recycle Now website.
The new locator is designed to work across all PCs, laptops and mobile devices, and is available as a widget, so that businesses and local authorities can embed the tool on their own websites.
Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has already launched the widget on their corporate site, and Britvic, The British Soft Drinks Association and The Co-operative are amongst other companies reportedly set to follow suit.
WRAP is urging other businesses and local authorities to consider hosting the Recycling Locator tool on their sites to ‘further promote recycling at a local level and demonstrate the support they’re providing for householders’.
’A simple and effective tool’
Marcus Gover, Director at WRAP commented: ”We know from our recent ‘Barriers to recycling at home’ report and 3Rs (Recycling, Re-use, Repair) Tracking survey that householders may require some extra guidance when recycling. We hope that the new Recycling Locator will clarify what is accepted and reduce the confusion of recycling certain materials.
“The Recycling Locator is a simple and effective tool that householders can access directly, so we’re encouraging partners to add it to their website and local authorities to keep changes to their services up to date via LARSU.”
Future plans for the Recycling Locator include displaying information for recycling water filters, light bulbs and ink cartridges and where to donate items of furniture for re-use.
Access WRAP’s ‘Recycling Locator’, or visit the Recycle Now website.
