Edinburgh City Recycling Efforts Raise £50,000 for Children's Charity

City recyclers in Edinburgh are making a huge difference to the lives of children all over the world. Sterling efforts by members of the multimaterial kerbside recycling scheme mean funds for Save the Children raised through recycling have just reached over £50,000.

One pound is donated to the charity for every tonne of recycled material collected by residents using the red and blue collection boxes. Approximately 130,000 residents recycle their waste through the service which collects cans, cardboard, glass, paper and textiles.

A cheque for £10,000 was recently presented to Save the Children by Abitibi Bowater Recycling Europe, the company that runs the kerbside service on behalf of the Council. The latest donation takes the total raised to over £50,000 since the service started in June 2005.

The incredible milestone comes as the Council marks Recycle Week 2008 with the news that the city beat its recycling target of 27% for 2007/08 - a recycling rate 27.16% was achieved for the year. And thanks to the continued hard work of residents and businesses to follow the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message, waste overall fell by 4.7%, with fewer tonnes of rubbish from households ending up as landfill.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "Fifty thousand pounds is a truly fantastic sum of money to have raised for Save the Children - congratulations and a huge thank you to everyone in the kerbside collection scheme. It is great to know that our shared Reduce, Reuse and Recycle commitment is really making a difference."

Nicola Breen, Save the Children's Fundraising Executive for Scotland, said: "The City of Edinburgh Council has done fantastically well to raise £50,000 from their kerbside recycling efforts and we're hugely grateful for the donation. We help children all over the world, including those affected by the recent emergencies in Burma and China, and these funds will help us to continue our valuable work. The recycling scheme is incredibly innovative, encouraging Edinburgh residents to help the environment, as well as saving children's lives."

4^th June 2008

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