RECYLING puppets and children from local primary schools have been helping East Cambridgeshire District Council this month to reduce the amount of waste produced by every household. With the help of Waterbeach-based waste management company Donarbon, Recy

RECYLING puppets and children from local primary schools have been helping East Cambridgeshire District Council this month to reduce the amount of waste produced by every household.

With the help of Waterbeach-based waste management company Donarbon, Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is developing a number of initiatives to reduce household waste. The first of these is involves 10 local primary schools across the region in the Happy Bin project.

This involves puppet shows, which help explain to pupils why we need to reduce our waste and what they can do to cut the amount they throw away. The puppet show visited Little Thetford Primary School and Ely St Mary's Primary School.

This will be followed by six weeks of activities that will help schools reduce the amount of waste they throw away, presentations and web-based information, culminating in award certificates for the schools to recognise their achievements.

Each school will then have a follow-up visit from the Schools Recycling Bus to help reinforce the waste reduction message.

Cllr David Brown, waste champion at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "As members of RECAP, East Cambridgeshire District Council is well aware of the need to increase the amount we recycle. RECAP have a lot of waste reduction initiatives that will be working to reduce the amount of waste which goes to landfill. This includes anti-junk mail campaigns, working with community groups and charities to increase waste reuse, 'say no to plastic bag' initiatives and in particular information and practical action to reduce food waste.

"Research by the National Resource and Waste Forum shows that implementing the measures we plan to take can reduce waste by up to 7.5 per cent. We are not complacent we know we have much to do but we are getting on with it to ensure we hit our targets."

Rachel Doyle, sustainable promotions officer at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "We all know that when you learn something at a young age it can set in place knowledge and routines for life. This is why it is so important to reach school children and explain to them the importance of recycling, we think the puppets from the Happy Bin project are a great way to do this."

Pic cap: Mark Shelton from Donarbon with Rachel Doyle from East Cambridgeshire District Council (back) and teacher Laura Platt, with pupils from Little Thetford Primary School and the Happy Bin puppets.

Photo: SUPPLIED