Recycling rangers ride in to the rescue

Do you have what it takes to get Cumbrians fired-up about reducing, re-using and recycling their rubbish?

If so, you could find yourself riding to the rescue as one of the county`s brand new recycling rangers.

Three full-time recycling rangers are being recruited by Resource Cumbria to improve its waste performance by helping resident`s change attitudes towards rubbish and recycling.

The rangers - each earning up to £17,985 - will need to be enthusiastic, industrious and used to working with the public as theirs will be a very hands-on role helping to improving our waste performance by demonstrating composting and the three Rs - reduce, re-use and recycle.

The rangers, each covering two districts, will spend a good deal of their time helping individual residents and running roadshows and events designed to help Cumbrians get to grips with the three Rs.

Resource Cumbria, the strategic waste partnership between Cumbria County Council and the six district councils of Allerdale, Barrow, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland, will be paying for the rangers from the recently-won government grant of £392,000.

The partnership won the cash, and praise, from the government`s national organisation WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) for the quality and originality of its funding bid.

Jack Richardson, chairman of the Resource Cumbria partnership, said: "Appointing these rangers will be the first big thing we`ve done with the money and we hope they will make a big difference by helping to inform and motivate more Cumbrians to reduce, re-use and recycle and really get to grips with these issues."

It is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in working in the environmental and waste minimisation arena.

The successful rangers will need to have experience of dealing with the public, some experience of helping people reduce, reuse and recycle and will ideally have a real personal interest in and awareness of waste management issues.

Cumbria`s county and district councils are working closely together as Resource Cumbria in order to improve performance and radically cut the amount of waste that is produced by Cumbrian households and particularly to cut the amount of refuse needlessly buried in landfill sites.

The county as a whole is improving well with kerbside schemes and Household Waste Recycling Centres as well as recycling points in places such as supermarkets helping citizens to reach an average household waste recycling rate of 34 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

But, with at least 60 per cent of domestic waste capable of being recycled or composted, much more needs to be done to make waste collection and disposal in Cumbria more sustainable and avoid government and EU fines that will increase council tax if they cannot be avoided.