Date: 07 July 2007 22:15

NO BUTTS TO KEEP CAMBRIDGESHIRE CLEAN

 As public places are becoming smoke-free, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 
 Waste Partnership (RECAP) are ready to tackle the predicted growing 
 problem of street littering.

 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, in line with the rest of England, will 
 see a ban for smoking in public places on 1st July. However, whilst the 
 move is seen to protect the health non-smokers, it is also expected that 
 the amount of cigarette butts ending up polluting our streets will grow.

 The RECAP partnership, which in March 2006 was awarded Beacon Council 
 Status for waste and recycling, has prepared a response to these new 
 challenges with a project work team dedicated to environmental crime 
 incidents such as littering and fly-tipping.

 A new Prevention, Intervention and Enforcement group, with representative 
 officers from each local council in the area will share expertise and 
 resources to ensure our local communities continue to be green and safe.

 On the 17th July, representatives from the RECAP authorities will take to 
 the streets to provide advice on how residents can keep the area 
 litter-free. Some useful goodies will be up for grabs, such as 
 state-of-the-art portable ashtrays. Information of sources of help to stop 
 smoking will also be on hand.

 The No-butts roadshow will take off in Cambridge Market Square on Tuesday 
 17th July at 10.30am and will visit other parts of the county in the 
 coming months to continue the awareness raising activity. The event will 
 run until 3pm, and the first 500 can claim a free portable ashtray.

 Councillor John Reynolds, Cambridgeshire County Council's Lead Member for 
 Waste and Planning on behalf of the RECAP partnership said: "We have 
 successfully engaged with our communities to increase recycling and waste 
 prevention and now it is the time to expand our work into areas that 
 directly affect our quality of living such as littering. It is only with 
 partnership working and the help of residents that we can preserve 
 Cambridgeshire green and free of rubbish."

 "We have been leading the way in the country in waste management service 
 provision and it is now the right time to start looking at the wider 
 environmental aspects of waste such as fly-tipping, littering and 
 graffiti."

 Currently, councils in Cambridgeshire pick up over 13,000 tonnes of litter 
 at a cost of almost £500,000. Smoking related litter is the most prevalent 
 type of litter in the UK and this is predicted to dramatically increase, 
 partly as a result of the ban on smoking indoors.

 For more information about the smoking ban, visit 
 www.smokefreeengland.co.uk To find out more on how to stop smoking, 
 contact your local GP.

John Reynolds