RUGBY legend Stuart Hogg has kicked off efforts to get more Scots recycling ahead of the nation’s annual awareness week which begins next Monday.
The Glasgow Warriors ace has teamed up with Zero Waste Scotland ahead of Recycle Week taking place between September 25 and Sunday October 1.
He was joined by pupils from Oakgrove Primary School in Glasgow for a photoshoot aimed at spurring people to do more to recycle at home and elsewhere as much as they can.
Stats show around 60 percent of Scottish household waste currently ends up in landfill.
But the new campaign will also target kids, as research shows younger boys are among the worst for not getting into the recycling habit.
Scotland and British Lions cap Hogg said: “Research shows its often younger males that haven’t got to grips with recycling yet, so I’m calling on guys across Scotland to get behind Recycle Week and be a waste warrior like me.
“If I can do it, you can too.”
The Scottish Government recently announced new raft of green measures including plans for plastic bottle deposit return scheme.
Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “Greener living has benefits for us all.”
“Events such as Recycle Week highlight how easy it can be for individuals and businesses to play their part and keep products and materials in valuable use for longer.”
“By recycling more we can all help protect our environment and relieve pressure on scarce raw materials.
“Scotland has an ambitious target to reduce waste, with no more than five pecent of all waste to go to landfill by January 2021 and 70 percent of waste recycled or prepared for reuse by 2025.”
Schools like Oakgrove have been holding their own awareness projects involving pupils like those who met Hogg today, including Pupils Conner Cai, eight, Daniel Hew, seven, Ailsa Kelleher, seven, Dilraj Singh, seven, and Sampriti Vinodh, eight.
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland said: “While recycling in Scotland has vastly improved over the past few years, there is still more that can be done.
“We need everyone to put their best into improving the recycling effort for next week and into the future.
“We are encouraged by the number of people already on board as our waste warriors in the run up to next week’s big event and I hope that even more Scots will take the opportunity to play their part.”
Want to learn more? Read: Information on Recycle Week can be found at the Zero Waste Scotland website.
Image credits: Zero Waste Scotland / 3×1 Group