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COP26 kids combating climate change with ten tonne fashion fix

Schools from across the Liverpool City Region have banded together in an effort to combat climate change and to stop clothes from being wasted.

The project Fashion Fix: Fixing clothes and changing behaviours to reduce textile consumption and waste is the creation of Toxteth-based Liverpool World Centre and environmental charity Faiths4Change, who have been awarded £17,000 by the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority & Veolia Community Fund 2021/22 to help deliver the project.

An estimated 20,000 tonnes of textiles are discarded from households each year in the Liverpool City Region, a lot of which could still be used. It is this behaviour the project is hoping to change and itself will look to stop ten tonnes of clothing material from going to waste.

Liverpool World Centre anticipates that up to 4000 pupils, teachers and parents will be educated and engaged in the topic of textiles waste by the conclusion of the scheme come March 2022.

Pablo Guidi, Director at Liverpool World Centre, said: “Fashion Fix refers to both the repairing of clothes and also the addiction to fashion consumption and the effects of so-called fast fashion. We are hoping to raise awareness of the clothing journey from production to disposal, give local teachers the skills to support fashion fixes in their schools and create student Fashion Fixers and Climate Champions to help lead reduce, reuse and recycling campaigns.”

The objectives of Fashion Fix are to:

– create 20 Fashion Fixers who will influence their peers in school to reuse, reduce and recycle textiles

– increase pupil knowledge, skills and understanding about the textile journey, improve attitudes towards carbon reduction

– engage 60 schools in clothing collections and other waste diversion activities

 The project has already held two events which have helped to identify the links between waste and climate change. The first event – the ‘Fix It Now’ Textiles waste and climate conference – was held at the Unity Theatre in October and gave Fashion Fix information sessions and activities to 20 teachers from 10 schools.

The second event on November 4thMock UN Climate and Clothing Conference – tied into the United Nations COP26 climate event and brought together 50 local pupils and teachers to represent different countries on the clothing journey from beginning to end.

Alison Boden, a teacher at St Austin’s RC Primary School in St Helens who attended the climate event in November, said: “Feedback from our children was very positive.  They are keen to make some posters to display around school to share the messages that they learnt at the conference. They talked about reducing waste and caring from the environment and really enjoyed delivering the speeches they’d prepared to the rest of the room. They’ve shared what they did with the Y6 class and in KS2 assembly.”

Councillor Tony Concepcion, Chairperson of MRWA, said: “Our research shows that there are high quantities of textiles placed in recycling and household waste bins across kerbside collections in the Liverpool City Region. Textiles shouldn’t go into bins. Instead, Recycling Centres, charities, local bring banks all accept clothes and textiles where they will go on to be recycled or reused.

“However, this project isn’t just about waste, it’s highlighting the link between waste and the climate emergency, and how we can no longer just throw things away once we’ve finished with them, as materials will have a value and could probably be used again.”

Paulo Guidi continued: “The project will finish with a finale fashion show which will be a chance to show off skills learnt by pupils and to hopefully generate further enthusiasm for committing to textiles waste reduction.”

All schools and universities in the project will be supported to contribute towards a 10 tonnes reduction in wasted textiles, with certificates and awards at the end of the project

ENDS

 Note to editors:

  • MRWA_Climate_2021A & MRWA_Climate_2021B – local school pupils at the mock UN Climate and Clothing Conference, Liverpool, 4th November 2021.
  • Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority is responsible for the disposal of municipal waste on Merseyside. Established in 1986 following the abolition of Merseyside County Council, it is a statutory Authority that works with all the local authorities on Merseyside – Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. MRWA takes a lead in advocating recycling, waste minimisation and safe and effective disposal of waste for Merseyside residents.
  • The MRWA and Veolia Community Fund 2021/22 has seen 17 community groups from Merseyside and Halton receive a funding boost to help make the region a cleaner and greener place. The financial support will see the groups help reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource re-use, and prevent carbon emissions. Funding total is £164,999.38
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SUNDAY 24TH OCTOBER Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Resident Notice

Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on SUNDAY 24th OCTOBER 2021 – Restrictions to access at Otterspool Recycling Centre, Jericho Lane, Liverpool.

There will be some restrictions to the access at Otterspool Recycling Centre during the Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Sunday 24th October 2021.

Jericho Lane will be closed at the junction to Aigburth Road between 8.00am and 4.00pm, as runners pass from Sefton Park to Otterspool Park via the underpass and then across the top of Jericho Lane. The junction will be open as soon as the last runner passes into Otterspool Park.

To avoid disruption in the area during the road closure, please use Old Swan Recycling Centre, Cheadle Avenue, Old Swan, L13 3AF.

Alternatively please use Riverside Drive to access Otterspool Recycling Centre by proceeding along Aigburth Road, Park Road left into Parliament Street, left into Sefton Street.

For more detailed information on the Rock n Roll marathon and road closures on the 24th October 2021, please go to: www.runrocknroll.com/liverpool-courses

Download: Full Road Closure Event Leaflet

For your nearest Recycling Centre click here.

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Latest Key Performance Indicators

MRWA has released its latest Key Performance Indicators. They can be viewed and downloaded below:

KPI 1 – DOWNLOAD (PDF)

KPI 2 – DOWNLOAD (PDF)

KPI 3 – DOWNLOAD (PDF)

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Recycling Centres to switch to winter hours from 1st October

Merseyside’s Recycling Centres are set to switch to their shorter winter opening hours.

From Friday 1st October the Centres will be open from 8.00am until 5.00pm* – changing from the summer hours of 8.00am to 8.00pm.

There are 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in the region. They are operated by Veolia on behalf of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA).

Recycling Centres accept a range of household materials for recycling, from batteries, cans and cardboard, through to garden clippings, glass bottles, wood, and white goods. They also accept lesser known items such as food (e.g Pringles) and drink cartons, clothes, hard plastics and electrical items. Householders can check www.merseysidewda.gov.uk for details of what can be accepted at their local site.

The Centres provide a popular service for residents and can become extremely busy at peak times so visits should be planned carefully.

There is a system in place for those who wish to visit a HWRC in a van or with a large trailer. Bookings can be made at www.merseysidewda.gov.uk.
More information on what you can do with your household waste items can be found at www.recycleright.org.uk.

Councillor Tony Concepcion, Chairperson of MRWA, said: “We shorten the hours over the winter to coincide with the darker nights over the forthcoming months. Merseyside householders can use the Centres to recycle a host of items – from cans, car batteries and cardboard to garden waste, large plastics, scrap metal, textiles and timber, and more.”

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 NOTES TO EDITORS:

The picture attached is of a Merseyside Household Waste Recycling Centre.

From October 1st 2021 until March 31st 2022 Merseyside’s Household Waste Recycling Centres will be open from 8.00am until 5.00pm*. The Centres are located at:

Knowsley –
Huyton – Wilson Road – L36 6AD
Kirkby – Depot Road, Knowsley Industrial Park – L33 3AR

Liverpool –
Old Swan – Cheadle Avenue – L13 3AF
Otterspool – Jericho Lane, Aigburth – L17 5AR

Sefton –

Formby – Altcar Road, Formby – L37 8EG
Sefton Meadows – Sefton Lane, Maghull – L31 8BX
Southport – Foul Lane, Scarisbrick New Road – PR9 7RG
South Sefton – Irlam Road, Bootle – L20 4AE

St Helens –
Newton-le-Willows – Junction Lane – WA12 8DN
*Rainhill – Tasker Terrace, Rainhill – L35 4NX
Ravenhead – Burtonhead Road, St. Helens – WA9 5EA

Wirral –
Bidston – Wallasey Bridge Road, Birkenhead – CH41 1EB
Clatterbridge – Mount Road, Clatterbridge – CH63 4JZ
West Kirby – Greenbank Road – CH48 5HR

*NB:

Rainhill:
Monday to Friday: Open 8.00am-5.00pm
Saturdays: Open 9.00am-5.00pm
Sundays: Open 9.00am–3.00pm

MRWA is a local government body with nine elected members from the five constituent councils in Merseyside. It organises and manages disposal of all waste collected by the five councils and operates 14 Household Waste Recycling Facilities. www.merseysidewda.gov.uk

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Merseyside community groups come together to help reduce waste

Seventeen community groups have met in Liverpool to come up with ideas to help the City Region reduce, re-use and recycle more.

The groups have all received funding from the Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (MRWA) and Veolia Community Fund 21/22, which has distributed £165,000 to help support local waste prevention, re-use and recycling initiatives.

Due to the Covid pandemic this is the first time that representatives from the organisations have been able to come together in person to discuss their plans to help cut household waste levels. The conference took place last Tuesday 14th September at No.1 Mann Island, the office of MRWA.

The organisations had to bid for the funding which will give them the financial resources to deliver waste-reducing behavioural change projects across the region. Programmes include cookery clubs to reduce food waste, community recycling hubs, sewing classes and craft clubs, upcycling and restoration of unwanted furniture, clothes recycling, and a cloth nappy lending library.

Chairperson of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA), Councillor Tony Concepcion, said: “The event was a great opportunity to meet all our project partners. Year on year we’re seeing more success from our Community Fund programme and its influence on the whole region. This year there are a wide range of projects and a good mix of materials including food, furniture, plastics and textiles.

“The work of these groups is greatly appreciated, and we know the benefits go well beyond just managing waste. It’s been a tough 18 months for everybody, but hopefully the Community Fund can give local groups the opportunity to show that many of the things we put in the bin are actually valuable resources and not something which might be just thrown away.”

One of this year’s projects is being delivered by local charity Bridge2 whose remit is to welcome, serve, and assist asylum seekers, refugees, and local community throughout the central Liverpool area. Their ‘Reimgaine’ project will see textiles and furniture collected and donated to support vulnerable communities, furniture reuse courses and textile reuse workshops.

Lindsay Thomas, Community Arts Co-ordinator at Bridge 2, said: “It was wonderful to see all the community partners together in one place, as it gave us the chance to swap ideas and discuss how we can all work together to help local residents reduce waste and reuse what they can.”

The successful organisations have got until March 2022 to deliver their projects.

ENDS

Note to editors
– Image caption
MRWA_CF2021 – MRWA Community Fund projects event, 14 September 2021, with MRWA Chairperson Councillor Tony Concepcion (far right)
MRWA_CF2021A – (L TO R) MRWA Community Fund Officer Christine O’Brien with Lindsay Thomas and Justin Thomas of Bridge2

– The successful projects:

Big Help Project – No Waste Food Club: this will set up six new Community Food Partnerships to reduce food wastage, aiming for 200 new members per Partnership. Will also include access to other services such as debt advice, housing support, employability, skills training.

The Bread Streets Group – Waste Not, Want Not: this Liverpool-based project will hold six workshops on how to reduce and reuse food, plastics and clothes/textiles, plus a litter pick.

Bridge2 – Reimagine: this project will see textiles and furniture collected and donated to support vulnerable communities, three furniture reuse courses and four textile reuse workshops.

Brunswick Youth & Community Centre – Make a Meal of it: this project in Sefton will host 10 weekly food skills training sessions with local families. They will be taught how to grow their own produce, use leftover, cook on a budget and how to freeze food correctly.

Carmel Sixth Form College – Sustainable Steps Toward Sustainability: the College will hold 26 weekly workshops and events for students on how to reuse furniture, textiles and food growing.

Centre 63 – Remake Yourself Hub: this ongoing programme will continue to provide sewing classes and upcycling furniture workshops while supporting the skill development of young women. It will concentrate on unwanted furniture and textiles and the Centre 63 youth club will be focused on litter picking, repair workshops and food waste activities.

Changing Communities CIC – ReStore St Helens: the reuse and recycle shop in Sutton will host a series of furniture upcycling workshops, offer donations to local vulnerable residents and set up seven school reading corners.

Community Integrated Care – Sustainability in Social Care: CIC will establish five new community collection hubs, host waste reduction and re-use events (for example, textile & furniture swapping and food waste avoidance workshops) and look to reuse materials within the social care sector. They will also create a full-time waste prevention specialist and part-time food waste avoidance champion while supporting 20 volunteers, giving opportunities for people with care and support needs.

Dovecot and Princess Drive Community Association – Recycle, Refashion, ReCreate: includes clothes/textiles and food workshops to be held in local schools, five family food workshops, 13 sewing in the community sessions, seven re-fashioning sessions and a fashion show and recycling competition.

Farm Urban – Future Food Heroes: working with six primary schools this project will set up a food ecosystem in each class and help create future food ambassadors.

Halton Play Council – Make Use and Lend Halton: the Runcorn-based charity will use the funding to host 10 reuse & repair craft workshops, four swishing and textiles sales events, as well as collecting textiles for redistribution and a toy lending library.

Liverpool Cloth Nappy Library – Sustainable Starts: will look to reduce plastic pollution through a lending library which will provide a reusable nappy kit and advice to parents. Will look to engage with 50 families as well as host three community pop-up events.

Liverpool Lighthouse – Liverpool Re-Fashion: this will see 26 weekly refashioning workshops help, three enterprise workshops and an exhibition at a fashion show.

Liverpool World Centre – Fashion Fix: a clothes/textiles project for schools, trainee teachers and parents, engaging with 4,000 people. LWC will create 20 Fashion Fixers and Climate Champions to help raise awareness and influence reuse, recycling of textiles and reduction of textile waste.

Make It Happen Birkenhead Ltd – Textiles as treasure: Make It Happen will employ a Textiles Champion to help establish a Community Shop, host 22 training sessions in sewing and crafts and sell the items in the shop.

Pioneer People Wirral – Street Ahead: this scheme will host a variety of neighbourhood exchange/garage sale events and 12 community centre events with donated items and upcycled items made by the Shed Heads project. Will also offer bikes refurbished at Liverpool Prison and send tools and clothes to Gambia to support local enterprise.

Wirral Change Ltd – Repaired Again: this project will work with ethnic communities to hold 20 food waste workshops, 20 textiles upcycling sewing classes and three community events.

– Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority is responsible for the disposal of municipal waste on Merseyside. Established in 1986 following the abolition of Merseyside County Council, it is a statutory Authority that works with all the local authorities on Merseyside – Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. MRWA takes a lead in advocating recycling, waste minimisation and safe and effective disposal of waste for Merseyside residents.

– The MRWA and Veolia Community Fund 2021/22 has seen 17 community groups from Merseyside and Halton receive a funding boost to help make the region a cleaner and greener place. The financial support will see the groups help reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource re-use, and prevent carbon emissions. Funding total is £164,999.38

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Pringles tubes and other paper containers with metal ends now accepted at Merseyside recycling Bring Banks

A new recycling service for paper containers with metal ends, such as Pringles tubes, hot chocolate, nuts and other products, has been launched at Merseyside’s 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) this Recycle Week.

Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority has introduced the service in partnership with Veolia and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (ACE UK).

Local residents can now recycle their containers alongside food and drink cartons via specialist bring banks located at HWRCs throughout the region.

The new service is the result of an agreement between ACE UK, which operates the dedicated food and drink carton recycling service, and packaging manufacturer Sonoco Consumer Products Europe.

Councillor Tony Concepcion, Chairperson of MRWA, said: “Previously, paper containers with metal ends – such as Pringles tubes – could not be recycled in our region, but we were keen to take this opportunity to include them. Merseyside residents have always responded well to the different schemes we’ve implemented at our HWRCs, and we hope that they will take full advantage of this new service.”

Michael Wake, Contract Manager at Veolia, added: “We’re delighted to be expanding the types of materials that are accepted at Recycling Centres in Merseyside. Recycling is a great example of how you can make small changes to contribute to a greener environment, by keeping materials in the loop and preserving raw materials.”

Richard Hands, CEO of ACE UK, said: “ACE UK has been successfully running the industry’s recycling programme for the last 15 years, driving significant increases in carton recycling as part of its role as the UK’s food and drink carton industry trade body. We have worked closely with local authorities and waste management companies so that today 93% of local authorities collect food and drink cartons for recycling through either Bring Banks or kerbside collection.”

Helen Potter, sustainability commercial lead for Kellogg’s owned Pringles ,said: “We know that people want to recycle their Pringles tubes. Including a solution for Pringles in the Bring Banks scheme will allow our consumers to return them to be recycled into something new and is an important interim solution as we work towards the development of our new tube. At Kellogg, we’re committed to making all of our packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by the end of 2025. This is another important step on this journey.”

Material collected from the Bring Banks is sent to ACE UK’s Stainland recycling facility in West Yorkshire, which is run by Sonoco Alcore. Fibre from the recycled cartons is fed directly into Sonoco Alcore’s paper mill on the same site, to be turned into industrial coreboard.

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Notes to Editors:

The attached pictures show:

MRWA_ACEUK1 – (l to r) Michael Wake, Veolia Contract Manager, and Carl Beer, MRWA Chief Executive, at Kirkby HWRC.

MRWA_ACEUK2 – A new recycling service for paper containers with metal ends, such as Pringles tubes, has been launched at Merseyside’s 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Paper containers with metal ends can be recycled at the following locations:

Knowsley

Huyton – Wilson Road – L36 6AD
Kirkby – Depot Road, Knowsley Industrial Park – L33 3AR

Liverpool

Old Swan – Cheadle Avenue – L13 3AF
Otterspool – Jericho Lane, Aigburth – L17 5AR

 Sefton

Formby – Altcar Road, Formby – L37 8EG
Sefton Meadows – Sefton Lane, Maghull – L31 8BX
Southport – Foul Lane, Scarisbrick New Road – PR9 7RG
South Sefton – Irlam Road, Bootle – L20 4AE

 St Helens

Newton-le-Willows – Junction Lane – WA12 8DN
Rainhill – Tasker Terrace, Rainhill – L35 4NX
Ravenhead – Burtonhead Road, St. Helens – WA9 5EA

Wirral

Bidston – Wallasey Bridge Road, Birkenhead – CH41 1EB
Clatterbridge – Mount Road, Clatterbridge – CH63 4JZ
West Kirby – Greenbank Road – CH48 5HR

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Recycle Week 2021: This year ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against Climate Change!

Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) is proud to ‘Step It Up’ in the biggest and best Recycle Week ever.

Recycle Now and MRWA are asking residents to ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against climate change and take action to protect our environment through even better recycling habits.

This year Recycle Now welcomes a celebrity ambassador to front Recycle Week and is delighted to be working with TV Presenter, Invictus Games Medalist and Strictly Come Dancing Star JJ Chalmers for the national campaign.

JJ is a keen environmentalist and is partnering with Recycle Now to inspire the nation to ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against climate change. JJ Chalmers said, “I’m thrilled to be part of this year’s campaign. I’m passionate about the environment and how we can battle climate change. I am delighted to be working with the Recycle Now team on what has become a really important week of action across the UK. I really want to encourage people to look at what they are doing and how they can ‘Step It Up’ and do even more… even better.”

Recycle Now and MRWA are asking the nation to ‘Step It Up’ and perfect our recycling habits.

Getting recycling right

Latest research from Recycle Now reveals that almost 9 out of 10 people now recycle.

However, 55% of households put items in the general rubbish bin that can be recycled. This, say Recycle Now, is where we need to ‘Step It Up’. We can all help fight climate change by recycling because recycling currently saves 18 million tonnes of CO2 every year, which is the same as taking 12 million cars off the road.

And if you’re at all unsure about how to recycle a specific item, remember that www.recycleright.org.uk can show you exactly what needs to go in the recycling bin where you live!

Craig Stephens, Campaign Manager for Recycle Now: “This year Recycle Week is focussed on how recycling can help fight climate change and how by recycling even better we can have a bigger impact on our environment. More and more of us are recycling, so the next step is to make sure we get our recycling right.”

For the second year running major brands are putting their support/backing behind the Week by donating to help fund it including: – Amazon, British Soft Drinks Association, Britvic, Coca-Cola, Coop, Danone, innocent drinks, Listerine, McDonald’s, The Natural Source Waters Association, Ocado, PepsiCo, Prevented Ocean Plastic, and Waitrose and Partners UK.

To find out more about Recycle Week www.recyclenow.org.uk/RecycleWeek

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Liverpool Half Marathon on SUNDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2021

Liverpool Half Marathon on SUNDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2021 – Restrictions to access at Otterspool Recycling Centre, Jericho Lane, Liverpool.

There will be some restrictions to the access at Otterspool Recycling Centre during the Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday 12th September 2021.

Jericho Lane will be closed at the junction to Aigburth Road between 9.00am and – 12.00 noon, as runners pass from Sefton Park to Otterspool Park via the underpass and then across the top of Jericho Lane. The junction will be open as soon as the last runner passes into Otterspool Park.

To avoid disruption in the area during the road closure, please use Old Swan Recycling Centre, Cheadle Avenue, Old Swan, L13 3AF.
Alternatively please use Riverside Drive to access Otterspool Recycling Centre by proceeding along Aigburth Road, Park Road left into Parliament Street, left into Sefton Street.

For more detailed information on the half marathon and road closures on the 12th September 2021, please go to: www.btrliverpool.com

Download: Full Road Closure Event Leaflet

For your nearest Recycling Centre see here.

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Zero Waste Week 2021

At Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority we are delighted to support this year’s Zero Waste Week (6th to 10th September).

Founded in 2008, Zero Waste Week aims to help individuals, businesses, organisations, schools, universities and community groups reduce landfill waste, save money and preserve resources. It wants to:

– empower individuals to rethink ‘rubbish’ as a valuable resource
– encourage us all to make small changes that lead to more sustainable consumption patterns
– educate so that people can easily and effectively reduce landfill, save money and participate in the circular economy in line with the Global Goals for sustainable development.

For more information about Zero Waste Week please visit www.zerowasteweek.co.uk.

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Access to Otterspool and Old Swan Recycling Centres

Access to Otterspool and Old Swan Recycling Centres

Traffic to both Otterspool Recycling Centre and Old Swan Recycling Centre is currently being impacted by diversions.

Otterspool Recycling Centre – vehicles turning right from Aigburth Road into Jericho Lane, and vehicles going straight on from Ashfield Road into Jericho Lane will be diverted via Garston Way between 9.30am to 3.30pm, Monday 9th – Friday 13th August 2021.

Old Swan Recycling Centre – approached from Old Swan, Cheadle Avenue is accessed via Green Lane which is affected by the current Prescot Road closure. A diversion will sign you to West Derby Road where you can access Green Lane.

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