Ipswich Borough Council has introduced eight new bins to Ipswich Town Centre in November 2023 thanks to £8,000 #InTheLoop grant funding.
The bright, colourful bins are part of an on-street recycling initiative to improve recycling on-the-go, with eye catching designs encouraging residents and visitors to recycle their plastic bottles and cans when out and about.
The eight new bins feature DiGBY the blue octopus, Ipswich Borough Council’s recycling mascot, and can be found in Tavern Street, Westgate Street and Carr Street. To keep contamination to a minimum, people are being urged to put items like coffee cups, and crisp packets in the general waste section of the bin and to think “if in doubt, leave it out”.
The funding, from environmental charity Hubbub and McDonald’s, is from a new #InTheLoop grant fund launched earlier this year to help local authorities and other organisations boost on-the-go recycling.
As well as the funding, Hubbub will provide ongoing support based on the charity’s expertise and experience in delivering recycling campaigns.
First trialled in Leeds in 2018, with support from McDonald’s and other businesses, Hubbub says #InTheLoop is the “UK’s biggest collaborative approach” to boost recycling on the go. Swansea, Edinburgh, Dublin, Wimbledon, Telford & Wrekin and Lambeth have all run similar pilots. Across all these #InTheLoop pilot projects, over 500 bins have been rolled out and over 2.5 million plastic and glass bottles and cans were collected and recycled.
Councillor Phil Smart, Ipswich Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change, said:
“We’re thrilled to partner with Hubbub and join twelve other locations across the UK and Ireland already recycling in this way. I’m looking forward to seeing Ipswich’s residents and visitors using these eye-catching bins to ensure as much plastic and aluminium as possible stays in the recycling loop for repurposing.”
Beau Zilesnick, Project Lead at Hubbub, added:
“We’re really excited to support Ipswich as part of our ongoing work to encourage recycling on-the-go. With the brightly coloured bins now in place, we are making it easier for the people of Ipswich to recycle while out and about.
“We are urging everyone to use the new bins, to boost the recycling rates of plastic bottles and cans which will reduce waste sent to landfill or incineration.”
Helen McFarlane, McDonald’s Senior Sustainability Consultant, said:
“We’re delighted to be funding this piece of work. McDonald’s has been working with Hubbub on their innovative #InTheLoop campaigns for over five years now, and we’re excited that this project builds on all the success we’ve had over the years. We hope that by providing funding to roll out #InTheLoop we can have a lasting impact in the communities we serve.”
