Hayling Island eco champion raises money for tree planting project by recycling the ‘unrecyclable’

Judy Valentine has signed up to several free recycling programmes which enable her to set up a drop-off point for items which are hard to recycle.

The items collected include writing instruments, beauty products and packaging, Pringles tubes, manual toothbrushes and electric toothbrush heads and old toys and games.

Once dropped off at the drop-off location, the items are sent to TerraCycle, which recycles hard-to-recycle waste.

For every item collected TerraCycle points are earned which are redeemed as monetary donations to Judy’s chosen charity, Havant Borough Tree Wardens.

The drop-off point can be found at Judy’s home 23 Tournerbury Lane, Hayling Island and is open to the community 24/7.

Judy said: ‘So far we’ve raised £138 for charity by sending this waste to TerraCycle.

‘We donate the funds to Havant Borough Tree Wardens who use the donations to grow trees and hedge plants from seeds and to buy tools to help the tree planting process.’

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

Judy added: ‘We encourage everyone in the area to get involved and sort, save and bring the items we can recycle to our drop-off location.

‘It’s a great way to both reduce the amount of waste you send to landfill, and it also helps raise funds for a great cause.’