21 January 2014
Holey jumpers! You can now recycle your textiles from the kerbside!
Everyday Heroes, Rob `the Boy Wonder' and Suzy, `Woking's Girl Wonder', took a break from their day jobs to join Cllr Beryl Hunwicks in the Peacocks Shopping Centre to launch the new kerbside mixed textiles collections service which started on Monday 20 January.
At the launch, the superheroes demonstrated that you don't have to go to the end of the earth to recycle your unwanted textiles. Simply place your textiles in a standard size carrier bag, tie the bag and place it next to your blue-lidded bin on the same day as your recycling collection.
Textiles collected include worn out items, such as clothing, shoes (paired), curtains, bedding, blankets and towels. Any unwanted items of clothing in good condition should continue to be donated to charity.
Cllr Beryl Hunwicks, Woking Borough Council's Portfolio Holder for Waste and Recycling, said "Each year in Woking, residents throw away around 800 tonnes of textiles into their black bins, which end up in expensive landfill sites. By using Woking's new textile recycling service for your worn out items, you can reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and help ensure valuable resources are reused."
Once collected, textiles are sorted. Clothing that can be reused is shipped to developing countries, while the rest is shredded and made into new produces such as car mats, cloths, flocking and felt.
Spark new life back into your old electrical items
With the introduction of the textile service, collections of small electrical items will now alternate with the new service. To recycle your small electrical items, put them into a carrier bag and place the carrier bag next to your black bin on the same day as your refuse collection.
Small electrical items, including kettles, hair dryers, games consoles, DVD players, radios and mobile phones, should be no larger than 35cm by 40cm in size and should fit in a standard size carrier bag. Even if the items are broken, they can still be recycled.
For a full list of the textiles and electrical items that you can recycle, look out for an information leaflet which will be delivered to residents across the Borough week commencing 13 January.
Be an Everyday Hero - recycle for Woking!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Woking's Everyday Recycling Heroes!
This month the Council isn't just launching its new kerbside textile collection service, but soaring through the skies will be Woking's very own `Everyday Heroes' who have joined forces to highlight the battle against everyday waste, which can be recycled and saved from expensive landfill sites.
Through a promotional campaign over the next 12 months, the superheroes aim to inspire recycling practices and show how easy it is for everyone to be an everyday hero and recycle for Woking; making the Borough a cleaner, greener place to live, work and visit now and in the future.
Recycle for Woking Champions' Awards
Catapulting the campaign into `infinity and beyond', will be the new Recycle for Woking Champions' Awards, which will take place in July and celebrate nominated resident's feats and positive recycling behaviours.
Cllr Beryl Hunwicks, said: "Each year over the last decade,Woking residents have recycled more of their household waste than they did in the previous year - trebling the amount recycled to 59%;making Woking the 13th best recycling authority in the UK, out of 352 councils.
"These impressive results highlight the continuing commitment that residents have made to recycle, reuse or compost their waste. However, recent studies show that half the contents of every black bin in Woking can still be recycled.
"In a humorous way, this campaign aims to demonstrate how easy recycling can be during your everyday life using the kerbside services provided byWoking Borough Council. It also aims to commend the recycling efforts of our residents to date."
For more information about what you can recycle and the campaign, visit
