Kensington and Chelsea residents asked to help catch “recycling’s most wanted” to boost recycling rates
Kensington and Chelsea Council have partnered with innocent drinks and environmental charity Hubbub to create juicy new recycling communications this Recycle Week1 (21-27th September 2020).
The new communications campaign will help West London residents recycle more and better
As one of the most densely populated boroughs in the UK and with a highly transient population, Kensington and Chelsea offers a particular recycling challenge. Over the last 3 years, K&C has achieved an overall increase in its recycling rate of just under 3% (2.9%). Now standing at 28.6%2, this is ahead of most other boroughs with similar housing composition, but there is still room to do better.
Realising that lack of clear and engaging communications was a key cause of low recycling rates, Kensington and Chelsea Council invited Kensington-based innocent drinks to bring its playful tone and creative designs to their recycling communications. The Council also teamed up with environmental charity Hubbub, which has a track record of creating award-winning behaviour change campaigns.
The positive, playful campaign asks residents to help catch "recycling’s most wanted" - high value items such as drinks cans, yogurt pots and bathroom plastics that belong in the recycling, but sometimes manage to escape.
The new communications will be featured on posters, recycling bags and leaflets, digital displays and recycling trucks across the borough and in a takeover of the Council’s social media channels.
The campaign has been informed by polling of Londoners and in-depth conversations with RBKC residents. The polling3 showed that 1 in 3 Londoners find recycling information difficult to understand, with less than half (45%) saying they’re confident about what can be recycled and more than half (51%) agreeing that clearer information would encourage them to recycle more. It’s estimated that every 1% increase in the household recycling rate saves K&C £63,000 in disposal costs3.
Louise Stevens, Head of Circular Economy at innocent drinks, said: “We’re thrilled to be a part of this campaign, and we feel this could be a breakthrough when it comes to recycling rates. We got a few of our talented writers and designers on the case and we’re looking forward to supporting our neighbours in their recycling efforts.”
Cllr Cem Kemahli, Lead Member for Environment at Kensington and Chelsea Council said: “I hope residents connect with this fun campaign and it makes recycling at home simpler. Our waste collectors and sorters have made heroic efforts during the pandemic to provide an essential service that we couldn’t manage without. We can all make their jobs easier by recycling the most wanted items.”
- Recycle Week, now in its 17th year, is a celebration of recycling, organised by WRAP under the Recycle Now brand.
- Based on RBKC internal data. Has not yet been verified and published by DEFRA
- Polling of 2,002 adults in London conducted by Censuswide in April 2019
- Polling of nationally representative sample of 3,006 adults conducted by Censuswide between 3rd and 6th July 2020