Council competition encourages Caithnessians to recycle more glass.

There’s still just enough time for householders to enter the Highland Council’s free competition to win a £20 voucher for The Thurso Cinema! There are five vouchers to be won, as part of a drive by the Highland Council’s Waste Aware Team to encourage glass bottle and jar recycling in Caithness.

To enter, participants can email a photograph of themselves recycling their glass bottles and jars at any Caithness Recycling Point, before the closing date of 1 March 2013. Five winners will be chosen at random and will be announced in March. Photographs should be emailed to recycle@highland.gov.uk  or prints can be handed in to Wick or Thurso Service Points.

There have been a few entries from primary school pupils, who received a leaflet promoting the competition – however, the competition is open to everyone, so adults can enter as well.

Caithness currently has the lowest glass recycling rate in the Highlands. In 2012, the average glass recycled from each house in Thurso was 1.3kg, Wick 1.6kg and the landward area 1.5kg. This is less than half the volume of glass collected in other areas with similar household numbers, such as Inverness Millburn at 3.9kg per household, Aird and Loch Ness 5.0kg; and Caol and Mallaig at 6.9kg.

Some householders recycle their glass bottles, but glass jars are often forgotten about. This includes jars after sauces, jams, spices and baby foods. All glass bottles and jars can be recycled, and it’s easy to do. Just remove the lids and rinse them out before popping them into the nearest glass recycling bank.

The Highland Council is hoping to increase the number of recycling points in Caithness to make glass recycling more convenient for householders. A new recycling point was recently introduced to Scrabster, and there are plans to provide more glass banks in Thurso as soon as a suitable site is identified.

For more information on recycling and waste minimisation, call 01349 886603, email: recycle@highland.gov.uk  or visit http://www.highland.gov.uk/recycle.htm.