A VOLUNTEER has raised £5,600 for St. Thomas’ Church, Hanwell, by collecting and processing “unrecyclable” items, which are sent for recycling with TerraCycle.

Pauline Britton has signed up to several of TerraCycle’s free recycling programmes, which have allowed her to establish a drop-off point for hard-to-recycle items.

She collects items like plastic bread bags, air freshener cartridges, as well as home and laundry care packaging. 

These are not included in council kerbside collections and have traditionally been destined for landfill or incineration.

 Once dropped off at St. Thomas’, the items are sent to TerraCycle, where they are given a new lease of life.

For every item collected, TerraCycle points are earned. These can be redeemed for monetary donations, which Pauline is using to repair St. Thomas’ Church and hall.

The drop-off point can be found at St. Thomas’s in Elthorne Park and is open to the community 24/7.

Residents are encouraged to bring their “unrecyclable” items and help boost Pauline’s fund-raising.

Pauline said: “To date, we’ve saved 6,000kg of waste from landfill, which is a fantastic achievement.

“These donations have funded the re-decoration and repair of the church.

“We’ve already installed low-energy lighting and plan to use the remaining funds to repair the leaking roof.

“We encourage everyone in the area to get involved and sort, sav, and bring the items we can recycle to our drop-off location.

“It’s a great way to reduce the amount of waste you send to landfill, whilst helping to raise money for a great local cause!”

The collected items are recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning them into plastic pellets, which can then be used by manufacturers to create new products, such as outdoor equipment.

https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB