Recycle Week 2015: Day 2

Recycling in the kitchen 

Hands up if you have a recycling bin in your kitchen? Most of us do and most of us know exactly what we can and cannot put in it. Depending on what can be recycled in your area, though, there may be some key items that end up in your normal bin instead of making their way into your recycling. Not sure about what you can recycle? Then head to Recycle Now’s Recycling Locator and enter your postcode to get all of the details you need.

Food Waste

 If you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated food waste collection service then you could cut down the amount you’re throwing away by a third – that’s how much of the average rubbish bag is taken up purely by food waste! All that food waste is taken away and either turned into compost or sent for anaerobic digestion, where it breaks down to produce methane that can be used to create biogas and power homes and vehicles.

Plastic Bottles

Most UK councils accept a variety of plastic bottles for recycling, but it’s always best to check what your local authority accepts before you recycle. We all know about recycling fizzy drinks bottles or milk bottles, but have you though about recycling detergent, fabric softener, bleach, cleaning product and even handwash bottles? These can all be recycled too! Don’t forget to rise your empty bottles – this saves leftover product from leaking out and spoiling the rest of your recycling – remove the lids/sprays and squash them. Some councils do accept bottle tops for recycling, but do check first! 

Plastic Packaging

The amount of plastic packaging that you can recycle in your area can vary wildly – some Local Authorities can only collect plastic bottles whilst others collect most other rigid plastic containers. One common feature across the UK is that plastic bags and films are not widely collected on the doorstep. This includes items like carrier bags, salad bags and cling film. Recycling these items is difficult, although some large supermarkets do collect film in store to recycle – but once again it varies from location to location. The best thing to do is to avoid buying items in this kind of packaging – lots of vegetables, for example, can be bought loose instead of in plastic bags. 

Other Recyclable Items

There are lots of other items that can be recycled in your kitchen and thankfully the majority of them are easy to recycle – from cardboard to tins to glass, there’s very little that shouldn’t end up in your recycling bins!

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