Devon is joining the 2025 Rescue Me! Recycle campaign

The Recycle Devon Flag was raised aloft County Hall on Friday to mark Recycle Week from Monday September 22 to 28.

Our cabinet member for Climate Change and Bio-diversity, Jacqi Hodgson and the Vice Chair of the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee, Ruth Williams was joined by our Chief Executive Donna Manson at the flag raising to mark the beginning of the nation’s biggest annual celebration of recycling, now in its 22nd year.

The Recycle Devon team were on hand to answer recycling questions along with Trigger, one of the Recycle Week mascots.

The week aims to raise awareness of missed items for recycling and there will be an online Q and A session on Wednesday September 24 via Recycle Devon’s Facebook page.

This year Recycle Week will shine a spotlight on missed ‘capture’ items that too often end up in the rubbish bin but can, and should, be recycled.

Following the success of last year’s campaign, Rescue Me! Recycle returns with three new characters joining the recycling mission:

• Shampoo bottles

• Foil

• Toothpaste tubes

Thanks to industry innovation and Waste Resource Action Programme’s (WRAP) technical expertise, toothpaste tubes can now be collected by some local authorities at kerbside collections for recycling—marking a major step forward in tackling hard-to-recycle items.

The above three items join the list from last year:

• Trigger sprays

• Aerosols

• Yoghurt pots

• Aftershave and perfume bottles

• Toilet roll tubes

Here in Devon, we are putting missed capture items front and centre. Thanks to the fantastic actions from residents, Devon remains one of the top counties for recycling with a recycling rate for household waste in 24/25 of 54.2%.

However, we know that there are still high levels of food waste, paper and card, plastic, textiles, metals and glass in the black bin. There is a particular need to increase plastic recycling in Devon to reduce the fossil fuel content of black bin waste and carbon emissions from the energy from waste plants.

Devon is supporting Recycle Week by flying a flag made from recycled plastic bottles, to promote the importance of recycling.

There will be a campaign during Recycle Week to raise awareness of missed items for recycling with an online Q and A session on Wednesday 24^th September via Recycle Devon’s Facebook page.

Top tips for recycling at home in Devon:

• Recycle more of these items:  Shampoo bottles and foil (remember to ball into the size of a tennis ball to aid recovery).

• Make sure you recycle these items: cleaning product bottles, aerosols, yoghurt pots, aftershave and perfume bottles, toilet roll tubes, plastic toiletry bottles and food tins.

• Toothpaste tubes are not yet collected at the kerbside in all areas of Devon. Check here to see if your local authority collects them.

However, toothpaste tubes can be recycled at local recycling points. Many Boots stores across the UK accept toothpaste tubes and other hard-to-recycle items through their Recycle at Boots scheme, where you can even earn Advantage Card points for participating.