The week runs from November 11 to 17.

A new Planet Ark report: Prospecting the Future of Recycling, highlights the important role of recycling and resource management in addressing global warming and help- ing to improve our capacity to live sustainably.

The report emphasises the responsibility we have across all sectors of society including households, businesses and governments, to address this issue.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s Waste Strategies and Education officer Nicky Julian said: “Residents can help by learning about what they can and can’t recycle in our local area to ensure we’re keeping valuable resources out of landfill and to help minimise our impact on climate change.

“Over 8000 tonnes of recycling was collected from the Port Macquarie-Hastings area last year, but we can do better.

“There are still a lot of recyclables going into residents’ general waste bins, and many commercial premises don’t recycle at all.”

Recycling a single aluminium can saves enough energy to run a home TV set for three hours.

Additionally, Australia leads the world in newspaper recycling, with more than 75 per cent of newsprint recycled.

This represents a potential annual saving of more than 1.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases and 140 million litres of water.

“We also have an excellent program in the Port Macquarie-Hastings area to reward good recycling habits - the Recycling Jackpot,” Ms Julian said.

“Every fortnight we draw out a couple of addresses and check their yellow bins for contamination.

“If none is found the resident wins $100 cash, while if contamination is detected the prize will jackpot to the next pick. The largest prize we have given out so far is $500.

“It’s easy for residents to help fight global warming by rememb- ering to Recycle More and Recycle Better.”

Planet Ark’s Recycling Programs manager Brad Gray said: “Planet Ark encourages all residents to use National Recycling Week as an opportunity to improve their recycling habits”.