News

The government wants the country to show its commitment to packaging recovery, following the launch of a pilot scheme for on-the-go recycling in London's Hyde Park this week (3 June).

The Royal Parks, the body that runs eight parks in the capital, is piloting two recycling bins for the next three months and looking to roll out 20 units in Hyde Park when it decides on the best format. It will then extend the scheme to the other parks.

Dennis Clarke, head of park services, said the bins were the result of nine months' work with the existing waste management company to develop the scheme, and could be "tweaked" depending on the exact location.

The trial is for plastic bottles and drinks cans, but bins could be adapted in size and product. Clarke said there was not a large amount of glass collected in the parks.

Waste minister Joan Ruddock said the government was "confident people had got the message about recycling" because home recycling rates had trebled since Labour came to power in 1997.

She said the government was now looking to tackle waste that people "were not very likely to take back home" for recycling. "Almost 70% of people in the UK claim they are committed recyclers. On-the-go recycling will put that to the test."

Ruddock said she hoped local authorities would introduce similar schemes in large public spaces, such as schoolyards and shopping areas, although admitted that on the street could be difficult because there was already a large amount of street furniture.

The pilot scheme is in a similar vein to Coca-Cola's on-the-go bins that Ruddock unveiled at Thorpe Park, the Surrey theme park, on 23 May.

Coca-Cola said it wanted to roll out 80 such facilities in the next three years.