Swapping cans for trees

Carlisle recycling helps grow 162 trees in Africa

(Date of issue: Friday, 15 August 2008)

Carlisle residents who recycled their tin cans and foil have helped to grow 162 fruit trees in Malawi, Africa.

Latest figures show that between June 2007 and June 2008, approximately 162 tonnes of aluminium was recycled and has resulted in a grafted orange tree being planted for each tonne. The recycling figure exceeded expectations, as 100 tonnes was set as an initial target. The promotion continues until June 2009.

Around 45,000 householders can recycle tin cans from their kerbside using Greenboxes supplied by the City Council. Tin foil can be recycled at Asda; Union Lane car park, Brampton; Bousteads Grassing Household Waste Recycling Centre; Townhead car park, Dalston; Longtown Community Centre; Morrisons and Tescos, Warwick Road.

Councillor Ray Bloxham, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Infrastructure, said:

"We want Carlisle residents to carry on recycling even more aluminium cans and foil, their efforts have already exceeded our expectations. The city currently has one of the UK’s best recycling rates and the scheme provides another reason to recycle even more."

The initiative is being run by not for profit organisation Alupro in partnership with British charity Ripple Africa in a bid to tackle de-forestation, improve nutrition and, as crop volumes improve, establish new businesses for fruit drying and juicing. Alupro’s Cherry Hamson, said:

"A plant label acknowledging the contribution made by people in Carlisle will be given to local community orchards when the trees are planted out. This was an idea from one of the Ripple team, who said how great it would be if people in the rural Malawian villages felt a connection to the communities in the UK which had helped them so much be providing the fruit trees."

The tree nurseries are run by local garden clubs and schools, which have been growing guava and pawpaw as well as the local lemon rootstock used for grafting the improved fruit species - a new introduction to the area.

The first grafted trees have now been produced by trainees learning their new horticultural skills at the project, and are being cared for both at Ripple Africa’s base on the shores of Lake Malawi, where they will be subject to trials for disease and drought resistance, and at the garden club nurseries.

As well as providing a greenhouse, training and materials, Alupro is making sure that a fruit tree is grown to maturity for every tonne of aluminium drinks cans and foil recycled in the UK. This is to encourage everyone to recycle, by demonstrating how saving energy saved through recycling is linked to environmental challenges in Africa. Recycling aluminium is 20 times more efficient than making it from the raw material bauxite.

Recyclers across the UK will give around 48,000 fruit trees this year. Many of the trees will be grown by individual families (improving their nutrition), and in community orchards which will provide opportunities for trade. But the project also seeks to identify budding entrepreneurs who will be interested in developing small businesses to dry and juice fruits, and create jobs. In these cases it is hoped that the business experience offered by the project will help ensure that the right decisions are made, small loans are available, and successful initiatives established.

And on top of that is the environmental gain of growing so many valuable trees in an area suffering severe deforestation. Ripple is also growing fast-growing trees at the nurseries so they can be coppiced for firewood, which is one of the major reasons trees are felled.