Every year, Recycle Week unites retailers, brands, local authorities, waste management organisations and households around one shared goal: helping everyone recycle more of the right things, more often. Led by WRAP’s Recycle Now campaign, Recycle Week is themed around the message, “Rescue Me, I’m Worth It”. The campaign reminds us that everyday packaging items still have value if it’s put in the right recycling bin.
Why recycling is worth it
Recycling allows used packaging to be turned into new products. This keeps materials in circulation for longer, reduces demand for virgin resources, saves energy and helps us move away from a take-make-dispose economy.
Knowing that recycling matters does not automatically make it easy. WRAP’s 2026 research shows that only 58% of people say they recycle everything they can, down from 72% in 2021. On average, each person misses 1.9 recyclable items each week, contributing to an estimated 2.3 billion recyclable items being placed in general waste every year.
The challenge is not simply awareness. Confidence, convenience and belief that recycling makes a difference all influence recycling habits. In 2026, only 69% of people said their recycling efforts felt worthwhile, compared to 81% in 2021. Recycle Week aims to rebuild that sense of value by showing what happens to recycled materials and the difference one correctly sorted item can make.
Meet the items asking to be rescued
This year’s campaign gives a voice to familiar items that are often missed, including:
- Minty, the toothpaste tube
- Spritz, the fragrance bottle
- Trigger, the cleaning spray bottle
- Deo, the aerosol
- Shampers, the haircare bottle
- Rolly, the toilet roll tube
- Al, the tin foil
- Yogi, the yoghurt pot
The characters remind us that recyclable packaging should not be written off as rubbish. Emptying, rinsing and sorting items correctly gives materials a second chance. Always check the guidance from your local authority, as household collections can vary by area. WRAP’s Recycling Locator is a great tool to find out where and how to recycle a specific item, either from your home or a local centre.
Small actions that make a difference
Start small by looking at what regularly ends up in your general waste bin. Could an empty shampoo bottle, aerosol, yoghurt pot or loo roll tube be recycled instead? A quick check can turn uncertainty into a better habit.
Look for recycling information on packaging and always double check your local collection guidance to find out how and where to recycle different items, whether this is using WRAP’s Recycling Locator or a quick internet search. Recycle Now has created a quick guide to the recycling symbols used in the UK, find out more here.
What Iceland is doing to help
At Iceland, our responsibility goes beyond encouraging customers to recycle at home. We continue to look for practical ways to improve packaging, support communities and make harder-to-recycle materials easier to collect.
Plastic film remains a particular challenge as kerbside recycling availability varies throughout the country. To help bridge this gap, many of our Food Warehouse stores have front-of-store collection points for flexible plastics such as carrier bags, bread bags, produce bags and magazine wrap that customers may not be able to recycle through their household collection.
Rescue one more item
This Recycle Week, take a second look before you throw something away. Check the label, check your local collection guidance and rescue one more recyclable item from the general waste bin. Small choices, repeated across millions of homes, help keep useful materials in circulation.
Because it is not just rubbish. It is worth rescuing.
