The Recycle for Hampshire campaign has joined forces with this year’s BUPA Great South Run to make recycling possible at this year’s event in Portsmouth. Together with a variety of other Hampshire-based events throughout 2006, the BUPA Great South Run has been working to be designated as a ‘Waste Wise Event’, meaning organisers and participants at the event will be attempting to minimise the waste they produce and recycle as much of it as possible.

Recycle for Hampshire is a countywide campaign to encourage people to recycle more items, more often. Through Waste Wise Events, Recycle for Hampshire hopes to demonstrate how easy it is to recycle even when out and about.

The BUPA Great South Run, taking place this year on Sunday 22 October, is the largest 10 mile road race in the UK, and is being entered by 18,000 runners this year. Runners and spectators will be able to recycle their drinks bottles at easily accessible recycling points around the course. Volunteer recycling stewards, from the Southampton-based charity ‘Two-Saints’, will be working with Portsmouth City Council’s street cleaning contractor, Colas, to collect as much recycling on the day as possible. The recycling stewards will also be on hand to help with a clean up at the end of the day.

To make the day a successful Waste Wise Event, all runners and spectators need to get involved and recycle their plastic drinks bottles and cans. It is hoped that 70% of all waste produced on the day will be recycled. All recyclable material collected will be processed by Veolia Environmental Services who operate all of Hampshire’s waste management facilities.

Executive Officer of Project Integra, Hampshire’s waste partnership, Steve Read said: “I am excited that we have been able to make the BUPA Great South Run a recycling-friendly event. We want to help expand the recycling habit from the house and workplace out to where people go to have fun. We hope everyone has an enjoyable time and recycles as much as possible on the day.”