PAPER is being piled into a new recycling bank in Winsford, thanks to Vale Royal Borough Council and Cheshire Recycling Ltd, who have teamed up to increase the number of recycling banks in the borough.

The new bank has been sited on the car park of the Queens pub in Dene Drive.

It is hoped that the new site will encourage more residents in Winsford to recycle their waste paper as the council strives to meet the Government target of recycling 25 per cent of its household waste by the year 2000.

When more suitable sites are identified, more paper banks will be installed. Glenn Stuart, the council's recycling officer, says he would welcome any suggestions about potential sites.

Cheshire Recycling operates paper banks and household waste paper collection schemes across the county and has operated in Vale Royal for a number of years.

The distinctive blue banks collect junk mail, white paper, catalogues, brochures and white phone books as well as newspapers and magazines. Envelopes, BT Yellow Pages or cardboard must not be put in them.

The paper collected is transported directly to a mill in Ellesmere Port where it is recycled into fresh newsprint. An average daily newspaper contains more than 42 per cent recycled paper.

Recycled waste paper has a number of environmental and economic benefits. Making paper also reduces demand for limited and increasingly expensive landfill space.

Organic waste such as paper decomposes in landfill sites to produce potentially polluting gases and liquids.

Landfill gas consists largely of methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas. The greenhouse effect is responsible for global warming, which is potentially the most serious environmental threat facing the world.

For further information about recycling, and particularly if you know of a site in Vale Royal which might be suitable for a new paper bank, phone Glenn Stuart on 01606 867869.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.