New Pelican campaign gets recycling on track

Train operator, Northern has unveiled an advertising campaign to encourage passengers to recycle their newspapers in stations across the region.

The ‘When it’s Read it’s Blue’ newspaper recycling campaign was created by the team at Pelican Communications.

The new campaign launches today (4 April) at Manchester Victoria Station to coincide with The Great British Spring Clean campaign organised by Keep Britain Tidy. It aims to put an end to newspapers being contaminated with other waste by educating passengers that the blue recycling bins in stations are exclusively for newspapers.

Kyle MacNeill, environment business partner at Northern said: “We deal with large volumes of newspapers which can be easily recycled if they are put in the right bin. Unfortunately they are being contaminated by coffee cups, takeaway food wrappers and other materials. Dirty newspaper cannot be recycled, so a valuable material is going to waste.”

In response Northern briefed Pelican to develop the ‘When it’s Read it’s Blue’ campaign. Pelican managing director Michael Bennett commented: “When it comes to recycling, we know most people want to do the right thing, but in a fast-moving location like a railway station they need clear instructions to help them take the right action.

“The new campaign uses simple direct messaging combined with Northern’s existing branding to make it quick and easy for passengers to recycle newspapers in the correct bin.”

Mike Roe, Northern’s safety and environment director added: “Northern is delighted to be rolling out this trial across the network so we can help stop newspapers from going to waste and help our customers to recycle.”

The campaign will roll out in selected stations across the North. It features posters, floor vinyls, Metro news stand snap sheets, bin branding, onboard digital screens and social media assets.

Pelican Communications is a specialist sustainability PR agency with expertise in food, packaging, waste, recycling, energy and trade associations.

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