Call to recycle telephone books

The directory bins will be in addition to the standard recycling ones

Householders on the Isle of Man are being urged to recycle their old telephone books.

Recycling bins have been placed across the island for the collection of directories throughout February.

These will be in addition to the standard recycling sites provided for glass, aluminium cans and paper.

The Department of Local Government and the Environment (DLGE) is promoting the recycling plan following the arrival of the 2006 directory.

The scheme is being jointly run with Manx Telecom.

Clearly marked

Telephone directories were previously collected in the same recycling bins as newspapers and magazines.

However, the newspapers and magazines collected from the island's public recycling sites are now shipped to the UK where they are sold to a paper mill which manufactures recycled newsprint.

This newsprint is then imported by Isle of Man Newspapers Ltd for the printing of the island's local newspapers.

The DLGE is keen to encourage recycling of the directories and is providing bins which will be clearly marked.

Manx Telecom's commercial manager, Andrew Honour, said: "We are aiming to achieve a target of 50% of the old books being recycled."