Turn your Yellow Pages green

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is urging residents to turn their old Yellow Pages green thanks to a change in recycling collection.

People living in the borough who receive their new edition of the Yellow Pages directory over the new few weeks will, for the first time, be able to recycle old copies in their green kerbside recycling bin. They will also still be able to take them to their local paper banks if they prefer.

The waste contractor which deals with all of the waste and recycling collected in the borough, Veolia Environmental Services, has recently made arrangements which means households can dispose of their old Yellow Pages in their recycling bin, along with other telephone directories.

Until now Yellow Pages could not be recycled through kerbside collections and instead they had to be taken to special paper banks in the area, before being sent for recycling.

This resulted in relatively low numbers of the directory being collected through these banks and the majority ended up in household waste bins. It is hoped that by accepting them in the kerbside collections, as well as in the paper banks, more residents will recycle their old copies.

Cabinet Member for Recycling and Climate Change Cllr Elaine Still said: “This is great news for residents who want to recycle a greater range of materials through their kerbside collections. By collecting Yellow Pages in both our household recycling bins and in Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s bring banks we hope to increase our recycling rate.”

When your new copy of the directory arrives don’t forget to put your old copy in your green recycling bin, along with all the usual materials of paper, cardboard, food tins, drink cans and plastic bottles. Please remember to remove the plastic wrapper from your directory before putting it in your recycling bin.