HOUSEHOLDS across Somerset are being urged to recycle items such as food and drink cans as part of a county-wide campaign.

In a bid to improve kerbside recycling rates, households across the county are being encouraged to recycle other items, including aluminium wrapping foil and foil trays, empty aerosols and metal screw tops.

The six-week campaign, MetalMatters, will use targeted social media and digital messaging as well as radio and bus advertising – spearheaded by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro)- to communicate the benefits of recycling metal household packaging.

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Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council executive member for transport and waste services said: “We know that people here in Somerset are great at recycling, but together we can all make the effort to do more.

“MetalMatters allows us to engage with our residents and encourage them to think about their recycling habits and understand how to correctly recycle their food and drink cans, foil trays, kitchen foil, empty aerosols, metal bottle tops and jar lids.

“Every recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours, we can all make a huge difference by recycling as much as possible.

Tom Giddings, executive director of Alupro, said: “For more than a decade, our MetalMatters programme has been educating the public about the benefits and importance of recycling metal packaging. We’re confident that this campaign will help to drive recycling rates and households taking positive action across Somerset.

“For us, the most important message is that metal is infinitely recyclable, meaning the quality and properties of the metal will be unchanged during the recycling process. Making a few small changes can add up to a big environmental impact.”

Mathew Canning, contract director at SUEZ said: “We’re proud to support this campaign to encourage residents to recycle their metals.

“Recycling metals is not only great for the environment—saving energy and reducing waste—but it also ensures these valuable materials are recycled infinitely.

“By keeping metals out of the rubbish bin and placing them in your recycling, we can all make a big impact on sustainability and help move towards a more circular economy. Our team looks forward to seeing and hearing the communications out and about throughout the county.