Remove all food and liquid from containers No need to rinse containers before putting them in the recycling bin. They just need to be empty and dry. You might like to rinse anyway, as it keeps your recycling bin extra clean and odour-free.
There's no need to wash or crush your recyclables. Just separate your aluminum, glass, and plastic containers in different bags or bins, and head for the recycling center. And again, if you need more info, be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions. Where.
Recyclables must be empty, clean and dry to prevent the contamination of other recyclables in the collection truck and at the recycling processing center. One ketchup bottle or not quite empty milk carton can cause your entire bin of otherwise perfectly recyclable items to be contaminated.
You don't need to rinse your containers before placing them in your recycling bin. Although rinsing reduces bin odours, unrinsed containers do not ruin a whole load of recycling.
The paper sorting and recycling machines safely handle these. It helps if you flatten cardboard boxes, but there's no need to remove all the tape.
No, all you have to do is rinse your glass containers cleanly and sort into the glass bins.
It is generally acceptable to leave tape used for sealing purposes on the cardboard, along with postal labels and stickers, as they are removed during the recycling process. However, please remember to remove any items, such as polypropylene ties, bubble wrap or any foreign items included within the packaging.
These common questions now have a simple answer – YES! They are all recyclable! Simply give the bottle or jar a rinse, squash plastic bottles, put the top back on and recycle as you normally would – even if it's a metal lid on a glass jar.
These should be placed in your general household waste bin.
How to recycle plastic pots, tubs and trays. Use left over washing up water to rinse your plastic pots and tubs before recycling. Left-over food residue can contaminate other recyclables. Labels and lids can all be left on but plastic film and absorbent pads must be removed and put in the waste bin.
Put this item in your recycling bin. Rinse or wipe clean all food/residue. Replace lid. There is NO need to remove label.
Once you purchase the HDPE plastic jug of detergent, it's used until empty and then discarded making room for you to buy another one. Although HDPE plastic is 100% recyclable and you may think putting them in the recycling bin solves the problem, even then only 30% of these jugs are properly recycled.
To recycle a plastic liquid soap container, you can empty the bottle out. There is no need to rinse the bottle or remove labels – remember to put your cap or pump back ON the bottle for recycling! Unwanted bars of soap should go in the landfill cart.
5. It turns out plastics have to be separated based on melting points. The Association of Plastic Recyclers recommends crushing empty bottles and placing the cap back on the bottle, though rinsing them isn't necessary.
Do you take the cap off your plastic bottles because you think that it will make it easier for it to be recycled once it reaches the recycling plant? Well you can start leaving the lids on because it's not true. The plastic bottles, complete with lids, are ground up and put through a water bath.
Towels are generally made of fabrics or textile materials. Since most textile and fabric materials are recyclable, it follows that your towels can be recycled.
Good to know
Dunelm operate a textiles take back recycling scheme in a selection of their stores and accept all clean home textiles including duvets, pillows, bed linen, towels, curtains, cushion covers, cushion inners and bedding protection.
Most plastic wallets are made from polypropylene plastics code 5. It can be recycled but needs a complex process including high temperatures.
Metal bottle caps are also recyclable. The process is different to recycle these bottle caps though. You should not throw loose bottle caps into the recycling bin. Although they are metal, and can be recycled with metal cans, they will get lost in a recycling plants.
Metal is definitely recyclable. But lids and caps are often undesirable in mixed recycling — with some exceptions — because most equipment doesn't efficiently sort and separate them. During sorting, caps and lids often wind up with glass shards, explained Robert Pickens of the Oklahoma Recycling Association.
Single-use plastic bottle lids are too small for recycling sorting machines to cope with, which is why they can't be recycled in your kerbside bin. As a result, they end up in landfill and our oceans.
Can I recycle wrapping paper? A lot of wrapping paper can be recycled - as long as any bows,ribbons and sticky tape are removed. The only paper that you can't recycle is foil or glittery paper, which unfortunately needs to go into your general waste bin.
Takeaway paper or plastic containers such as pizza boxes or fish and chip boxes can't be recycled due to food contamination. Throw these items directly into your rubbish bin.
Contamination is when materials that cannot be recycled are put in recycling bins. Food or liquids can leak onto paper and cardboard, meaning they cannot be recycled. Greasy cardboard (for example food packaging or takeaway pizza boxes) also cannot be recycled for the same reason.