The new recycling scheme in Lewes District is having a real effect! At the recent Plastic Free Lewes event ‘The Truth About Plastic’ (Lewes Town Hall, 24th October), Scot Reid (Head of Customer and Neighbourhood Services at Lewes District Council) announced that the new recycling scheme, introduced in the past year, has significantly improved recycling rates in Lewes District, they are now up from 22% to 38%.
The new scheme was introduced following a long campaign by Lib Dem District Councillor, Vic Ient. Cllr Ient said “It’s great that we have been able to respond to public calls for better recycling and I will continue to push the District Council to be more ambitious”.
Environmental campaigner Oli Henman said “The improved recycling rates provide very welcome news given the challenges of plastic pollution in our countryside and our seas; we hope to see this level grow further. Now, we are calling on the District council to get on with rolling out the on-street recycling bin pilot which was put forward by Lib Dem Council Group Leader, Cllr Sarah Osborne.”
Local campaigner Kevin West said, “Lewes residents are very active on the issue of recycling and have responded in a really positive way to the new scheme. According to Viridor, the contractor who sorts the recycling, we have very low rates of ‘contamination’ – only 2% of the recycling is rejected,making the quality 98%. This shows that small changes can have major effects,we should all be proud of this achievement.”
Plastic Free Lewes is a campaign group in Lewes that raises awareness of the impact of plastic pollution and helps people to take real action to resolve the issue. It is supported by multiple political parties as well as the Town Council. Lewes Lib Dem campaigners Kevin West and Oli Henman have been key members of Plastic Free Lewes since its inception
