Local residents were recently invited to give their views on a glass recycling campaign that has been carried out in Hampshire, and the results have been very encouraging. Of those who had seen the campaign, over 70% thought it was effective in encouraging people to recycle their glass bottles and jars.

The campaign, which was launched last October, targeted three areas in Havant, East Hants and Test Valley where the amount of glass bottles and jars thrown out with the rubbish was particularly high. Surveys were sent out to up to 1000 residents in each area before and after the campaign, in order to assess awareness of the campaign and usage of local bottle banks.

The response rate was approximately 30% and of those who completed the surveys, over 75% said that they take their glass bottles and jars to the local bottle bank. While this is an excellent response, over a million glass bottles and jars still get thrown away with the rubbish every week in Hampshire and these could all easily be recycled.

Chairman of the Project Integra Scrutiny Panel Councillor Marsh commented "By taking all of our empty glass bottles and jars to the local bottle bank, rather than throwing them in the bin, we are helping to reduce the amount of rubbish that gets buried in the ground at landfill sites whilst also cutting down on the costs of waste collection and disposal."

Old bottles and jars can also be turned into new glass which saves energy, and reduces the need to quarry hundreds of thousands of tonnes of raw materials.

To encourage residents to complete and return the surveys, a prize draw competition was also organised and winners from each of the areas were presented with prizes made from recycled glass at a special prize-giving held in Winchester.