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Caradon: Towns turn trash into cash

Towns in South East Cornwall are being invited to take part in a recycling competition with a first prize of £1,000 to spend o­n a local environmental project.

Organised as part of the South East Cornwall Community Strategy, the Town Recycling Award Scheme for Householders, or TRASH Challenge, aims to increase recycling rates by householders in Caradon.

Tim German, chair of the strategy’s Environmental Action Group, said: “Recycling rates are good in South East Cornwall, but we want to see them become better still.   All five of the main towns and many of the villages in the area have access to Caradon’s kerbside recycling scheme, which collects a wide range of recyclables every fortnight.

“We hope the competition will show people how easy it is to recycle and encourage even more in the towns join in.�

Saltash, Torpoint, Liskeard, Looe and Callington Town Councils have all been invited to help with the TRASH Challenge, which will run from October 2004 to mid January 2005.  The winner will be the town that produces the highest recycling tonnage through Caradon District Council’s kerbside collection service during the competition.  The tonnage will be calculated as an average weight per property to put the smaller towns o­n and equal footing with the larger towns.

There will be a first prize of £1,000 and a second prize of £500 for the winning towns to spend o­n an environmental project for their residents.  The competition is being sponsored by Viridor Waste Management, which operates a local recycling facility for commercial and industrial waste at Lean Quarry near Liskeard.

Viridor spokesman Dan Cooke said: “We are delighted to be able to support this exciting local initiative.  Nothing focuses the mind like cash to be spent o­n improving the local environment.  We hope that this partnership between Viridor, Caradon and local residents helps get even more people into the recycling habit.â€?

http://www.caradon.gov.uk/i