Recycle Right

Long term, the ideal solution would be to not only slim your black sack bin, but all bins in your house as much as possible. At the moment, this is quite hard, as the supermarkets and other large companies wrap our products in masses of unnecessary packaging. So for now, the best solution is to try and help capture as much waste as you can into the recycling system.

I don't know anyone who can say they don't bother to recycle. Thanks to council collections, we all put items in the recycling.

But are you doing it correctly?

Click on the link below to view a fantastic website that will tell you just what your recycling bin should and should not contain. Every council is different and this site allows you to put in your postcode so you get it absolutely right.

RECYCLE NOW

Some other general dos and don'ts:

DO wash all your recycling. Lorry crates of recycling can sit in the depot for a few weeks before being dealt with. If something starts smelling, the whole crate could potentially go to landfill or the incinerator and then you have wasted not only your time, but that of your neighbours too.

DO have your own separate collections for items that can’t go in. Most of the big supermarkets will have a recycling point somewhere on site. These can be for anything such as light bulbs, batteries, printer cartridge or water filters. The CARRIER BAG recycling bin is really useful to find.

In our local Tesco store it is right next to the entrance. It is slightly misleading, as it is advertised as carrier bag recycling, but it can recycle a whole lot more. Anything that displays this symbol can go in.

Lots of your frozen food produce bags will now have this logo, but you can also put in bread bags, bubble wrap, cereal bags, sandwich bags, wrappers from magazines / loo roll / kitchen roll, even the 6 can joiners from your Stella! I even found this symbol on bags of compost this summer. The bags should be dry and clean. Collect them up and take them with you to the supermarket.

FOIL can be recycled in some areas if it is clean, but many pieces are too small and will fall through the gaps in the conveyor belt at the plant. Wash out a jar and start to collect up your metal bits - like the metal tops of wine bottles, tart cake cases or chocolate wrappers. When you have enough, make it into a ball. That way, it has some chance of getting picked up in the system.

PLASTIC LIDS from bottles don't get recycled. The plastic that they are made from cannot be recycled by most council systems. Start to collect them up and take them into Lush next time you are in town. They recycle them into new items, such as the black pots their products come in.

DON’T put nappies, dog poo or slops from your dinner in your recycling bin. I think this is just common sense, but needs to be said. Like I said above, if the crate smells or looks contaminated there is the possibility that it won’t be recycled and you are wasting everyone’s time.

DON’T only recycle from your kitchen. Items from the kitchen are often the only ones to make it into the recycling bin. When you collect up the wastebaskets from the rest of your house, make sure that everything that can be recycled, does.