Knowing how to recycle and what can you recycle can make a big difference to our environment. These days, most of us make a conscious effort to, whether we’re at home or out and about. But do we all really know how to recycle properly? Do we all know what types of rubbish can be recycled and how we can reduce our waste in general?
Whether you have been religiously recycling for years, or need more information on what you can and can’t recycle, this guide will help. It will provide you with practical tips, clear guidelines, and useful insights to help you learn how to recycle properly at home. We’ll cover everything from what goes in what bin and what can you recycle, to why we should bother to recycle at all.
Why Should We Recycle?
With so many dos and don’ts when it comes to recycling, you might question why you should take the time to do it. But if we didn’t recycle, it would have a big impact on our environment. That’s because recycling not only reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, but it also helps to preserve natural habitats and ecosystems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and conserve valuable natural resources.
Think about it this way – by recycling materials like paper, plastic, glass, and metals, we reduce the need to extract any more raw materials from the Earth, like trees and water. This means that we reduce our use of already limited resources and it takes far less energy to make new products out of recycled materials.
It is a win-win. Recycling helps us and our environment. So although it might take a little bit longer to get right, the benefits will be enjoyed for years to come.
What Can You Recycle At Home?
There are lots of products and materials that can be recycled including batteries and electronics. But at home in the UK, these are the things that you can generally put in your recycling bin at home:
Paper
This includes newspapers, magazines, office paper, cardboard, paper packaging, books and notebooks.
Make sure there are no personal details on the paper, like card details, names, and addresses before throwing them in the recycling bin.
Cardboard
This includes corrugated cardboard boxes, cereal boxes, pizza boxes, and other food packaging made from cardboard.
Be sure to flatten them before recycling.
Glass
You can recycle glass bottles and jars of all colours in your recycling bin.
It’s best to rinse them before recycling.
Plastic
This includes drinking bottles, toiletries, cleaning products, plastic food containers, yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, plastic trays, and other plastic packaging.
However, you need to check for a recycling symbol on the plastic itself. This is usually found on the bottom.
Metal
This is limited to aluminium cans, steel cans, empty aerosol cans, aluminium foil, and metal lids from jars.
However, sometimes different counties or city boroughs have slightly different recycling guidelines. For example, Nottinghamshire County Council does not accept glass in their recycling bins, while Cheshire West and Chester County Council have three recycling bins for different products. So to be sure to check with your local council to confirm what can be recycled in your area.
How to Recycle in London
In London, all borough councils provide households with a recycling bin, bags, or boxes. Usually, instructions on what you can recycle in them are on a sticker somewhere on the bin or box. But generally, in London you can recycle:
- Plastic – bottles, pots, tubs, cartons, and carrier bags (empty and untied)
- Paper – newspapers, magazines, books, and letters
- Cardboard – cereal, egg boxes, and other cardboard packaging
- Metal – tins, cans, aerosols, foil, and bottle tops
- Glass – bottles and jars
How Many People Recycle in the UK?
The number of people who actively recycle their waste at home in the UK has been steadily increasing. According to government data, the overall recycling rate for household waste in the UK was around 44.1%. This means that almost half of the household waste generated in the country was recycled. But this number has been declining since 2019 when almost 46% of people in the UK were recycling. So, with fewer of us making the effort to recycle at home, we need to all be actively thinking about whether we can increasing the effort we make to reduce waste by consuming less and recycling unavoidable waste.
Although what you can recycle isn’t always as clear cut as it ought to be, how to recycle is made very easy for us with regular waste collections from our doorstep. So spending a little bit of extra time understanding what products and materials you can recycle can go a long way to protecting our future and our environment.
And for everything else that can’t be recycled, make sure that you dispose of waste in a safe manner. Junk Hunters can help by providing quick and efficient residential waste removal, making sure that your waste is handled and disposed of in the best and quickest way possible. Read about our UK Residential Waste Collection and Garden Clearance for more information.