Beth Doherty
Sam Peters and Lesa Snook from Salisbury have raised over £81,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance by collecting ‘hard-to-recycle’ items which aren’t accepted by the local council.
Now, they are encouraging the people of Wiltshire to recycle ‘hard-to-recycle’ materials, saving them from landfills and raising funds for Wiltshire Air Ambulance at the same time.
Founders of Recycle for Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Sam Peters and Lesa Snook have signed up for 25 free recycling programmes offered by TerraCycle, the world leader in recycling “hard-to-recycle waste”.
The programmes include the Baylis and Harding Recycling Programme, the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Programme, the BIC Writing Instruments Recycling Programme, and the Cathedral City Cheese Recycling Programme, among others.
Pens and highlighters, Baylis and Harding pumps and caps, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, and cheese packaging are among the items local residents can take to the pair’s drop-off location at The Phoenix Emporium in Salisbury which is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from 10am to 4pm.
None of these items are included in local kerbside recycling due to their complex material make-up, so traditionally they have ended up in landfills or been incinerated.
Sam explains, “We set up Recycle for Wiltshire Air ambulance back in 2016 after we discovered the free programmes offered by TerraCycle to recycle a whole host of items which the local council collections can’t accept. The Phoenix Emporium is our main one-stop drop point recycling hub in Salisbury but we decided to go one step further and set up a network of drop-off locations across Wiltshire where anyone can drop off their hard-to-recycle materials.
“We’d love to have more volunteers on board so more people can recycle with us without travelling too far. Not only are we doing our bit for the planet, but we are also raising vital funds for our local air ambulance, it’s a win-win.”
The collected items Sam and Lesa send into TerraCycle are then recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning them into a pellet format which can then be used by manufacturers to create new plastic products such as outdoor furniture, lumber and construction applications reducing the need to extract new resources from the planet.
For each item sent to TerraCycle for recycling, Sam and Lesa receive a monetary credit which is sent directly to Wiltshire Air Ambulance from Terracycle in the biannual money drop.
Lesa adds, “So far the Wiltshire community have helped us raise more than £81,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance. This is a phenomenal amount and we are so grateful to everyone who has helped. This charity does hugely important work and keeping it operational costs around £11,000 per day so the money we raise makes a real impact.
“If you’d like to get involved and help us, please do get in touch at Recycle for Wiltshire Air Ambulance on Facebook or recycle4waa.co.uk. You can also email us at recycle4waa@wiltshireairmbulance.co.uk.”
To find more details about Sam and Lesa’s recycling scheme click here.
For more information about TerraCycle, or to get involved and help Recycle for Wiltshire Air Ambulance with their recycling efforts click here.
Andy Munns
