Recycle

[Matheous-2]

Forgive me not enquiring at our local Govt., website on this as I've always found it daunting trying to find anything there.
Anyway, what I would like to clarify on recyclables are the iffy items, eg.,tin foil, cellophane, cling film, egg cartons, spent pill foils etc...

Thanks in advance for any responses

[gingejbee]

All local councils have different rules....we can put anything into our recycle bins...glass,shredded paper, lots of things that neighbouring councils won't recycle.

[woofgang]

Gingelbee is right. I can recycle things my sister in the midlands can't and she can recycle things which I can't. NOBA how the stuff is collected and which goes in what collection is totally different too.

[bhg481]

I just send an email to our council if I'm not sure about recycling something and I always get a helpful reply.

[tamborine]

Tis painful when our charity bins are emptied into their scruncher trucks, PCs/CDs/printers/radios/music centres/toys/glass/crokery/cooking pots etc, all scrumpled

[Buenchico]

Sorry, you're not going to get a definitive answer here (or indeed on the Gov.uk website or any other national website).

Each council area has different recycling capabilities. So, for example, person A might live in one council area and be able to put (say) empty bleach bottles into their recycling bins. Their next door neighbour, B, who lives just the other side of the local authority boundary might be prohibited from doing so. However B might live in an area where books can be recycled but A doesn't. So you need to consult your local council's website to see what can be recycled in your area.

However, to the best of my knowledge (supported by the fact that all relevant packaging seems to declare 'not currently recycled'), no types of plastic film can be recycled anywhere. (So that means no crisp packets, no clingfilm and no plastic carrier bags, etc). Also I've never come across any list of recyclables that includes any form of aluminium foil (so that's the stuff you wrap the Christmas turkey in ruled out, along with the foil cases for cakes and pies, together with your pill foils, etc).

Here's a complete A to Z of items listed on our local council's website:
http://www.greensuffolk.org/recycling/a-z-of-recycling/
but I urge you to check your own local council's website, as their rules might well be different.

[237SJ]

As others have said, it depends on the council and who they use to recycle their goods. My parents in Devon couldn`t put Tetrapac cartons in their waste but I could. Tin foil is acceptable in most places but I would never put that out because the foxes here smell the food that it has covered and take it away to be deposited on peoples` lawns. If in doubt, chuck it in the dustbin - life`s too short to worry about these things.

[gingejbee]

Chris....aluminium, in all it's forms, IS classed as a recyclable here.

[DaisyNonna]

Varies. Plastic bottles accepted, not the lids. ???

[Old_Geezer]

If in doubt, landfill. Life's too short to be stressed & hassled by uncaring authorities, and likely to be shorter if plagued by these sorts of worries/doubt.

[ummmm]

My council sends out lists of what can be recycled.

If I'm in doubt I throw it in the bin. Our council will only take two bin bags per household though and they have to be council bin bags.....No black bags anymore.

[atalanta]

It is vital to recycle aluminium. If you can't, you should lobby your local council on the matter. It is not that there is any looming shortage of bauxite - there never will be. But the energy required to smelt raw bauxite to make new aluminium is colossal compared with the energy required for melting down used aluminium. The recycled result is as good as new, unlike recycled paper.

[johnny37]

My council collect carrier bags and any kind of plastic food packaging and even plastic flower pots. Cant understand why there is all this kerfuffle about carrier bags.

[Matheous-2]

Thanks guys....I did think that all recycled stuff was pretty uniform throughout the UK...Will have to check my local council site after all....

Johnny37, I think the carrier bag thing is really all about the volume being thrown away and ending up stuck in trees & hedges etc....I personally hate them.

[ummmm]

Our council advises to bag up any surplus recycling in carrier bags.

[LyndaB]

We have four bins. A cream one which all paper products go in, a green one for garden waste and food waste (the food waste goes into biodegradable bags and then into the bin), a black bin for non recyclable and a purple one. The purple one takes glass, aluminium and plastic bottles (minus the lids). I think it's different for each local authority