What can I recycle?
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This week is Recycle Week in the UK (24th - 30th September) Organised by WRAP under the Recycle Now brand, the aim of the week is to encourage the public to recycle more, by demonstrating the benefits of recycling items from all around the home.
To help you recycle even more and to take some confusion out of what is recyclable and what is not, we've put together a list of what you can recycle.
What to Recycle?
What types of paper and card can be recycled?
- Newspapers, magazines and catalogues
- White paper
- Envelopes
- Brown paper
- Non-shiny wrapping paper
- Cardboard boxes, such as cereal boxes, dishwasher tablet boxes and your delivery boxes
Remember to...
- Remove the plastic wrapping that some magazines come in, as this can't be recycled
What not to recycle with your paper and card:
- Tissues, wet wipes and used paper towels
- Cotton wool and make up pads
- Sticky paper - including post-it notes and sticky labels
- Shiny or glittery wrapping paper and gift bags
Top tip -
- If you scrunch paper and it doesn't spring back, it means you can recycle it.
Did you know:
- 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK.
What types of plastic bottles can you recycle?
- Milk bottles
- Drinks bottles
- Shampoo and shower gel bottles
- Detergent and soap bottles - remove the pumps as they can't be recycled!
- Bottles of bleach, or of any other cleaning product including the nozzle
- Skin care product bottles
Remember to...
- Empty and rinse your bottles and replace any lids
- Leave labels on - they'll be removed as part of the recycling process
- Squash bottles to save space
What other plastics can you recycle?
- Pots, such as yoghurt and fresh soup
- Tubs, such as butter and ice cream
- Trays, such as fruit, meat and ready meals
- Brown plant pots
Remember to...
- remove any film lids or absorbent pads in trays as these can't be recycled!
- give your pots, tubs and trays a quick rinse so that food residue doesn't ruin other recycling
- take paint pots to your local recycling centre, as they can't be recycled from the home
Did you know:
- 275,000 tonnes of plastic are used each year in the UK, that’s about 15 million bottles per day.
What types of metal can be recycled?
- Drinks cans
- Food tins - pop lids inside the tins
- Chocolate and biscuit tins
- Aluminium foil - but only if it has no food residue!
- Aluminium trays and tubes - place any plastic caps into the recycling separately
Top tip -
- Empty and rinse before recycling! Food and liquid can spoil whole loads of recycling and then it just ends up in landfill or incinerated
- Leave labels on - machines take these off as items travel through the recycling plant
Did you know:
- 24 million tonnes of aluminium is produced annually, 51,000 tonnes of which ends up as packaging in the UK.
