Did you know, a staggering 298 tonnes of recyclable material had to be rejected for recycling last year? The recyclable material had been contaminated by unrecyclable items that prevented it from being made into something else.
This is a massive issue because rejected loads and contamination of dry mixed recycling is expensive for local councils to sort out – and that extra cost is passed on to councils and the taxpayer. Recycling makes financial sense for councils as it is cheaper than disposing of waste as rubbish and leaves more cash available for other essential services. It also generates less carbon dioxide than rubbish disposal, so it has additional environmental benefits.
It’s widely recognised that recycling can be confusing, though. Putting the wrong thing in the recycling is easily done. The good news is you can follow these five steps to help make it a little easier.
- Packaging can be misleading. Or you may think to yourself ‘it looks recyclable.’ Check first by using the Surrey Recycles search tool or downloading it as a free app. It also includes information on how to recycle items that aren’t accepted in your household recycling collections such as crisp packets and food and drink cartons.
- Check what you can recycle separately. In most areas of Surrey, food waste and garden waste, small electricals, batteries and textiles recycling are collected separately – they don’t go in your recycling bin. Use our recycling search tool or free Surrey Recycles app to check how to recycle them.
- No food or drink residue as moisture and grease will ruin cardboard and paper and make it unrecyclable. Give food and drink packaging a quick rinse by dunking it into soaking pans before placing in your recycling bin.
- Place all items loose in your recycling bin – nothing inside bags, sacks or bin liners please.
- Play to bin – try our drag and drop waste sorting game today!
Remember, other small changes like swapping to reusables where possible will really help as you’ll be creating less waste in the first place. Find out more at: surreyep.org.uk.
