Over the past two years, one woman and her army of volunteers have been processing 'hard-to-recycle' plastics in Macclesfield.

But as they no longer have a space to take in boxes of food wrappers and packets, Terracycle Macclesfield have had temporarily stop their service.

Macclesfield recycling champion Kate Ellis (38), also known as AKA Terracycle Kate, has launched an appeal for a space or building to resume their operations.

If they do not find a new venue, they are now facing the prospect of having to permanently stop her essential work.

"I am am unpaid volunteer who runs public collection points over the town and surrounding areas for over 38 different product streams of hars to recycle plastic," said Kate.

"Unfortunately do to the immense popularity of the scheme I have run out of space for volunteers to sort the plastics. Due to the change in weather we can no longer do this in my garden and need an indoor space to continue.

"At my house alone I have over 283 drops offs a month from people and then I have a huge weekly delivery from Scoop and Scales that is delivered by the [Macclesfield] electric bike company ELOV. So with those alone I save tones of waste from landfill and incineration.

"We are kindly asking the people of Macclesfield for an indoor space that is dry so the volunteers and the waste remains dry.

"I have put a huge shout out on social media for an indoor space for a minimum of a day a month to use. I have asked around at halls, churches, empty shops and units but had no success as yet. As I am a volunteer and the waste we recycle makes money for charity it is hard for us to pay for huge rental fees.

"Currently we are looking for a day a month in a space that is free of charge. I only see this as being over the winter months and I am hoping in that time we maybe able to find a disused location that we can crowdfund for and make into a permanent location for us to run from and grow."

Having filled her home and storage space with orders, Kate cannot take in any more rubbish, unless she finds a new space, collections will cease forever.

She is part of Macclesfield eco-action group ONE Project, which puts our town on the map for sustainability.

"We save a huge amount of waste as we said from landfill and incineration. All we send off is 100% recycled and makes some great items for parks, gardens, and more," Kate added.

"Also one of the biggest reasons I am so passionate about getting this back up and running is because for a huge percentage of the volunteers these sorting days help them mix with other people, have a mindful few hours and are able to switch off from daily pressures they face. These are not my words, but from the volunteers themselves.

"I have 15 regular volunteers and then lots of people who come to sort and it helps them to remember what we can recycle and how they should sort it before drop off.

"Any support anyone can offer would be massively appreciated. We are helping to make a more positive impact on our community by helping with waste reduction and raising awareness of alternatives people could be using to reduce their waste amount.

"Recycling is not the the answer but it is a fantastic option we have for the all the waste currently, until the manufacturers changes to more sustainable packaging."

"From waste alone we have raised just under a £1000 for charity. To date we have sent off just over 85,000 crisps packets and 35,000 confectionery wrappers.

"On average a week we were taking anywhere between 95 to 130 bags a week."

Kate also serves as Co-Founder of The ONE Project Macclesfield and Head of Community Partnership & Community Engagement for Local Highstreet.

Macclesfield: Have you got a community space or spare office to provide?

You can contact Kate on Facebook or Instagram.

Her email is [email protected], and can be called on 07974 442003.

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