This week is Recycle Week and this year the focus is on rescuing recyclable items from the general waste bin.

Our own research, commissioned with our waste partner Veolia, has revealed that residents in Nottinghamshire are throwing away the equivalent of around 57 million recyclable cans and newspapers every year. 

That's around 57 million lost opportunities to make a positive impact because in Nottinghamshire all of these could have been sent to be made into new things.

Paper is a big opportunity, with residents throwing away the equivalent of 300,000 newspapers each week, missing the chance to give these materials a new life. Cardboard is another top recyclable material that is commonly put in the wrong bin; approximately half of the cardboard found in general waste bins is clean and could be recycled, but currently isn’t.

Our study also revealed that the equivalent of around 800,000 food cans end up in the wrong bin every week.

Look out for our new ‘Lost’ campaign being launched this week, which aims to highlight this and encourage Nottinghamshire residents to “check before they chuck” by using our free Recycling Checker and make sure these valuable materials don’t go to waste.

Looking for a scare?

Well here goes, according to Hubbub, 30.4 million pumpkins will be bought for carving this Halloween and of these a whopping 15.8 million pumpkins will go to waste, left uneaten. That’s £26.7 million worth of edible food!

So carve, then eat, or how about following the latest Halloween trend and decorate your pumpkin instead? Less mess, less stress (think knives and little hands) and it will stay fresh until you are ready to eat it. Get some tips on how to decorate your Halloween pumpkin.

If you're not in the mood for a pumpkin pie after Halloween, check out our recipe to make a delicious pumpkin soup instead.

Did you know that 800,000 apples are thrown away every day in the UK?

This year we will be helping to celebrate our famous local apple at the Bramley Apple Festival of Food and Drink on Saturday October 26 at Southwell Minster. Come along to our stall and pick up a free Love Food Hate Waste Cookbook or just have a chat with us about all things recycling.

Have you been admiring the beautiful autumn colours on the trees? As lovely as they are to look at, leaves can become a problem in the garden. How about making leaf mould which will be really beneficial for your plants?

Follow our tips to find out how to make your own leaf mould:

• Collect fallen autumn leaves (avoid evergreen leaves such as holly, laurel or conifers as these can take longer to rot).
• Pack them while damp into a container - thick reusable bin bags or hessian sacks are ideal or you can reuse old builders' bags. Once full of leaves, make sure they are damp before tying the top. Pierce the bag a few times to help aerate the contents.
• Leave them for a year or two. After this time has passed, you will have a lovely dark brown mix that supports your soil.

We would like to wish everyone who will be celebrating Diwali this year a safe and happy festival.

If you would like to make sure your celebrations are eco-friendly, these are our top tips to celebrate Diwali sustainably:

• Gifts - why not give a handmade gift made using natural and organic materials or homemade candies in paper bags?
• Fashion - if you are looking for a new outfit choose sustainable brands that use eco-friendly fabrics. You could also upcycle an old lehenga or kurti.
• Rangoli  - choose rangolis that are produced out of flowers or use colours that are not harmful to the environment.

Recycling centres across Nottinghamshire are now operating Autumn opening hours which means they close a little earlier as the darker nights start to draw in.

All of our sites are open daily throughout October from 8am until 6pm. 

You can make your visit to one of our recycling centres quicker by sorting your waste into material types before you go.

Please remember that all waste must be from Nottinghamshire residents' own homes.