NB  This report was written in 2000, by Sarah Incher, who was then Chair of the Buy Recycled campaign.

History

At a conference workshop in 1997, LARAC introduced the concept of a national campaign aimed at raising awareness of recycling, recycled products and packaging, thereby stimulating markets for recyclable materials through a 'closing the loop' approach.  The campaign had been developed and tested in the Essex and East London region and uses a campaign logo and message as a first step to achieving its aims.   To develop the campaign on a national scale, a working party of local authority officers was set up and worked towards the launch of the campaign by Michael Meacher, Minister for the Environment, in November 1998.

All LARAC member authorities were provided with packs and promotional material designed to help them implement the campaign.  Many local launches and events took place around the UK and the campaign has become an integral part of many authorities' educational and promotional work.

As well as local authorities, early support for the campaign was provided by:

With financial support from LARAC, VALPAK, British Steel, Essex CC, Cardiff CC, Surrey CC and Devon CC.

Aims of the Campaign

• To achieve an environmental closed loop system by means of a Buy Recycled logo.
• To close the recycling loop using the campaign slogan:  Buy It, Recycle It, Buy Recycled
• To encourage increased public participation in and support for recycling schemes.
• To raise public awareness of recycled products and packaging with recycled content.
• To inform of the availability and quality of such products and packaging thus stimulating recycling markets.

Methodology

• Co-ordinated by local authority recycling officers, the campaign is aimed at the public through local authority contacts and buildings, in association with organisations within the waste management industry, supermarkets and other retail outlets.
• Linked to LARAC and working closely with Waste Watch, NI2000 and RAGS, the Buy Recycled logo became a national logo in 1998.
• As members of LARAC, local authority recycling officers are supplied with campaign starter packs, promotional items, information updates and support from the national campaign executive officers.

Current activities

The Buy Recycled Campaign is now in its third year and was launched by Michael Meacher, Minister for the Environment, in November 1998.  Local Authorities encourage members of the public to Buy Recycled products with displays, competitions and media articles.  The Executive Committee works in the background to try and encourage retailers and manufacturers to join the campaign, which is now part of the National Waste Awareness Campaign, due to be launched later this year.

We now have 14 registered logo users, one of which is Sainsbury's Supermarkets, who are actively working to support and promote the campaign. They have encouraged manufacturers of their "Revive" range products to also register and use the logo. These products are now in stores with the logo printed on them. We hope that this will encourage other retailers to join.

Our registered logo users are. - Plysu, Alida Consumer Products, Fort James, F. H Lee, Straight Recycling, Blackwall, Linpac Environmental, Excel Industries, Baco Consumer Products, OTR Tyres, PCL, Recycled Bottle Glass, and Retread Tyre Manufacturers Association.

The campaign executive has made use of the first eight months of the national campaign by evaluating progress and addressing the effectiveness of the campaign and its means of delivery. In short the lessons learned so far are:

• that there is a wealth of expertise and experience within local authorities in terms of using the media and other PR tools to great effect which, in   some cases is more effective than engaging external PR 'experts'.  This is borne out by the outstanding quality seen in many of the local launches and events that have been taking place;
• that it is not always enough to just give the public a message and expect to see results.  There must be guidance and useful information for the public to ensure interpretation, understanding, acceptance and ACTION;
• that it is vital to follow up and evaluate progress, to establish the weaknesses and to provide solutions where they are needed.

From these lessons, some from bitter experience others from the results of a survey carried out earlier this year, the campaign executive set about addressing the issues. A great deal of work has also been done to incorporate the major retailers into the campaign with considerable success so far.

Next steps for the campaign

The 1999 conference saw the launch of the year's campaign with the introduction of a Pledge Card scheme to bring greater attention to the campaign and its aims. Supported by major retailers the scheme will be implemented by local authority recycling officers across the UK. The Pledge Cards have a three-way purpose, provoking thoughts and action by the public and reinforcing the message to Buy Recycled; providing feedback to the retailers about the type of product with recycled content that consumers would like to see more of in-store and also to inform the campaign executive of the impact of the campaign.

All LARAC member local authorities have received an updated campaign manual, highlighting the focus of the year's campaign and provided guidance to assist with their local efforts. Each authority received 1000 Pledge Cards to be used in the course of their promotions. The manual also contained a guide to recycled products and packaging sold by major retailers across the UK. The list provides an excellent starting point, which can be further developed to include more national information as the campaign grows. Details of local retail products can also be added. This guide is a direct link with the Pledge Card scheme and addresses one of the problems highlighted as part of the survey.

The future

The campaign executive will continue to develop the plans for the growth of the campaign, its promotional activities, links with current and prospective partners and support for local authority recycling officers. The campaign thrives on feedback and suggestions, examples of effective, local campaign efforts and will continue to provide updates through LARAC's Dialogue, meetings and regional activities.

The Buy Recycled campaign continues its strong links with other campaigns such as the National Waste Awareness Initiative, Going for Green and Greening the High Street.

This year's Buy Recycled week is 8 -15 October 2000 before the LARAC Conference.

You can contact the national campaign by telephoning an executive Buy Recycled officer or via Waste Watch on 0207 253 6266.

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