Mr and Mrs Smith score a Golden Goal for the Environment

Recycling champions Jill and Bernard Smith have just scored a Golden Goal for the environment.

The busy couple entered South Norfolk Council's recycling competition after refuse collection crews checked their Green recycling bin and concluded it was perfect - no contamination with rubbish that cannot be recycled.

The crew left them the distinctive football-shaped Golden Goal application form, and today they got the call saying they had won a new flat screen TV - just in time for Sunday's World Cup final.

Jill of Arundel Road, Wymondham said:

"I was absolutely thrilled when I found out that we had won, lost for words - it was a lovely surprise. It's a pity about England not getting through to the final, but we will enjoy watching the World Cup on our new TV."

Councillor Philip Waltham, who leads for the Council on Safeguarding the Environment and who presented the TV to Jill praised the couple's recycling efforts:

"Recycling is a first and most important step on the road to saving our environment for the generations to come. It is rapidly becoming part of the national psyche to do what we can to preserve and save the planet.

“I am glad that Mr and Mrs Smith have demonstrated so admirably what we all can do and given us such a good lead to follow. I am delighted that South Norfolk Council is able to show recognition on behalf of all in our communities and I would like to express sincere thanks to all the families and residents who take such care to help with this essential service.”

Jill and Bernard have two daughters, Rachael and Laura. Rachael has left home to manage a local Pub, but Law Graduate Laura is back whilst furthering her career.

Jill explained the key to their recycling:

"We have small waste bins in all the rooms, and we make sure we sort through all that we throw away before deciding what goes in which bin. It is so important to take notice of what can and can't be recycled.

"All the landfill sites are filling up and there is no other space available, so we must all try and do something about it. I've found that the amount of rubbish I am throwing in the black refuse bin is now going down, and the amount I am leaving out in the green recycling bin is increasing."

She refused to accept that recycling was difficult or took up too much of her time:

"When I started, I thought it would be a lot of hassle, but it isn't. It is not a lot of trouble or that big a deal, once you are in the right and positive frame of mind."

And she confessed to being annoyed about the packaging around modern products:

"Packaging really annoys me. The sheer amount of packaging, the size of the boxes for what are quite small products, meat and fruit in plastic containers - it all makes for a lot more waste in itself."

There were two runner-ups in the competition: Ann Cochius of Spur Lane, Framingham Earl and Mrs Susan Snelling of High Street, Wicklewood. Both receive prizes of recycled drinking glasses and The Big Recycle footballs.

The council's Golden Goal Cards and Red Cards campaign to reduce recycling contamination was launched at the beginning of June, and was timed to co-incide with the World Cup and The BIG Recycle, a major national campaign to encourage the public to recycle more household waste.

ITV's football presenter Gabby Logan is the face of the campaign, jointly organised and funded by WRAP - the UK's Waste and Resources Action Programme, established to promote resource efficiency.

Residents in South Norfolk already recycle over 30 per cent of their rubbish. They can recycle plastic bottles, cans, metal aerosols, paper and cardboard in their green bins. Anything other than this is classed as contamination.

Norfolk Environmental Waste Services (NEWS) at Costessey, which takes recycling from councils across Norfolk, will not accept lorry loads which contain contamination. Last year, this cost South Norfolk Council around £42,000 - the amount the Council had to pay to dispose of rejected loads.

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