Recycling Yellow Pages has never bin so easy

Manchester City Council is calling on residents to help set a new record for recycling their old Yellow Pages by simply putting them in their blue bins for kerbside collection.

A total of 214,000 directories are now being delivered to households across the city, weighing a total of 278 tonnes, or the weight of two blue whales - the world's largest animal.

Last year, 17.2 tonnes of Yellow Pages were collected and recycled across Manchester but the City Council's recycling team is hoping this year's result will be even better.

Now, as Mancunians receive their copies of the 2009-2010 directories, the City Council has introduced its new kerbside collection policy for out-of-date Yellow Pages.

Residents with twin bins can put their old directories in the blue bin for recycling and those in the south of the city with the box and bag system can put them in their blue bag, along with all other paper. Residents who live in the north the city with a box and sack system are asked to put the directories in the box.

Residents can also take their directories to Manchester's Household Waste Recycling Centres in Longley Lane, Sharston and Sandfold Lane, Levenshulme.

Meanwhile, 51 primary schools across the city will also be taking part in the Yellow Woods Challenge when pupils return in September. The challenge is an educational campaign urging youngsters to collect old Yellow Pages, with cash prizes available to the schools collecting the highest volumes per pupil.

Councillor Jim Battle, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "Our record for recycling Yellow Pages has been improving over the last few years, but there's still a long way to go.

"We know Manchester residents are keen to recycle more, so we're trying to make it as easy as possible and help stop thousands of Yellow Pages from going to landfill."

For further information on the Yellow Woods Challenge or any other recycling questions please email recyling@manchester.gov.uk or Environment on Call on 0161 954 9000.