Are You Really Recycling All You Can?
Now, more than ever, we know we all have to make a much bigger effort to help save the planet. We are all recycling now, aren’t we? Good. But how much thought do you give your recycling beyond knowing which day is collection day for your recycling bins?
Some of the common items we sort for recycling every day get rejected at the sorting facilities due to a variety of reasons, most of which we can prevent at home. With the recent COP26 conference highlighting the plight of the environment and the climate crisis, we have a look at how you can make sure you are recycling the best you can.
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Squash empty bottles
Flattening and squashing empty bottles will not only make more room in your recycling bin, and help to reduce the carbon footprint from the echoes that collect recycling waste, it will orient bottles rolling off conveyor belts at sorting facilities.
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Screw bottle lids on
Small items such as bottle caps and lids may be too small for sorting machines to recognise, and they are rejected. However, by ensuring lids are screwed on, they become part of the bottle and are more likely to be recycled.
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Recycle soft plastic at the supermarket
Recyclable plastic bags and film are generally not accepted in curbside collections, but many supermarkets now have their own recycling points for these materials in store.
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Scrunch up foil
Kitchen foil can be recycled, but small pieces can get lost or rejected by soaring machines, so gather it all together, and scratch it up into a tennis ball size so that it can be more easily recycled.
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Empty and rinse
Always rinse recycling that has food residue stuck to it. It doesn’t need to be thoroughly cleaned, by food debris can contaminate porous materials such as cardboard or paper, and make it unrecyclable. Stinky food waste also makes work unpleasant for workers in recycling sorting centres.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) also has information on its website about what you can recycle in your particular area, and what to do with individual products such as textiles, aerosols and electronic items.
If you’re looking for rubbish clearance in South West London, get in touch today.