Myth: It’s plastic, so it can be recycled, right?

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Well....almost all plastics are recyclable, but it is not always economical to do so, for example some plastics regularly get stuck in machines and it costs a lot to get them out, or black plastics which cannot be recycled due to the use of carbon black pigments, and the inability of machines to separate these into a separate recycling stream.  In terms of whether YOU can put all plastics in your recycling bin, the answer is no - not every kerbside service collects all plastics.  Keep reading for more information.

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In the UK, there is a huge discrepancy in plastic recycling between local councils. The map below outlines the number of different types of plastic packaging that each council collects; some collect lots of different types, whilst two collect none at all. It's therefore really hard to know what goes in your recycling bin, especially if you've recently moved to an area where recycling is managed by a different local authority.

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To know what exactly can be recycled in your area, your first step would be your local council website, or the Recycle Now website, which is also very useful for alternative recycling to kerbside. This includes plastic bag recycling at larger supermarkets, for more information see this webpage . However, even that can be confusing.  Products show a wide range of different labels which in the end, just confuse the consumer.  Some just say 'widely recycled', however when you look in detail at some local authorities, they don't recycle some of the 'widely recycled' plastics.  Some just have numbers on showing what type of plastic it is, which doesn't always help with knowing if it can be recycled.

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Although it is made for Dakota, the image below does a really good job of showing what the different numbers mean for different types of plastics, and generally speaking whether it is recyclable or not is consistent with councils in the UK; check your local council for further information if you're not sure.

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Common errors with recycling

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This BBC News article shares 10 things you can't put in your household recycling.  These include:

• Sticky notes

• Toothpaste and other squeezeable tubes

• Drinking glasses and other pyrex dishes

• Paper receipts (ones printed on shiny, thermal paper due to the chemicals they contain)

• Crisp packets

• Salad bags

• Plastic sleeves on lucozade sports bottles

• Pringles tubes

• Cotton wool and make up remover pads

• The new McDonalds paper straws, which in theory are recyclable, but they would need to be collected and processed completely separately to other materials to recycle, which is not currently possible.

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Contamination

• Make sure that your recycling is washed before putting it in your bin - food remains can contaminate the plastic, and result in it not being able to be recycled.

• Recycling mixed with general waste is also contaminated, and cannot be recycled.

• Other types of recycling inside plastics is also a contamination: make sure if possible you don't slip paper inside plastic tubs in your bin!

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To summarise, recycling is really a mine field, and that's not all down to the consumer - big companies need to make it a lot more obvious what can and can't be recycled, and the local recycling rates need to go up so that we can process more recycling, which isn't an overnight fix.

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