MP praises work of recycling volunteer

Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert praised the work of a volunteer who promotes recycling when he visited her stand at this year’s Washington Village Day. 

Mr Herbert met Chris Porter who has been trained by the West Sussex Waste Prevention programme as a volunteer advisor.  Chris’s stand at the Village Day promoted better recycling and encouraged a reduction in single-use plastics.   She also advises on environmentally-friendly alternatives to many frequently used household items, such as swapping plastic straws for paper ones.   

The organisers of the Village Day ran a deposit scheme on plastic cups from the refreshment stalls, to ensure that any plastic cups used were returned and reused where possible.  

West Sussex County Council will be launching a ‘Think before you throw’ campaign this summer because over 22,000 tonnes of recyclable materials are currently being put in the wrong bins across West Sussex each year.   The council and their advisors want to remind residents which materials can and cannot be recycled. 

Washington is in the Horsham District council area which already has a successful track record for recycling household waste.  Last year, Horsham District was the first authority in West Sussex to reach the national recycling target of 50 per cent of domestic waste, two years ahead of the 2020 target date.   

Empty aerosols, food cans and moulded plastic packaging are examples of what can be included in household recycling bins.  All items must be clean and dry.  A list of recyclable materials can be found at www.recycleforwestsussex.org. 

Chris said: “I enjoyed meeting Nick and showing him what I do as a waste prevention advisor.  I think he was quite taken with the information available and how the message was delivered to children through a fun fishing game.  As a volunteer advisor, I run workshops at local groups and schools, to raise awareness on things like single-use plastic and tackling textile waste.”  

Mr Herbert said: “Chris’ display really caught my eye, and I was impressed by her enthusiastic promotion of recycling.  It’s an important message which I was very happy to support.” 

ENDS 

Notes  

1.    Photograph 1 – Chris Porter with Nick Herbert at the Washington Village Day.

2.    To find out more about what materials can be recycled locally see www.recycleforwestsussex.org. 

3.     To find out more about the West Sussex Waste Partnership and its training programme for volunteer advisors see   https://www.wastepreventionwestsussex.co.uk/volunteers/.