Top 10 Mistakes Made With Recycling

Most of us do want to recycle correctly – we know that it’s better for the planet, and so it’s a part of being a responsible citizen. However, with increasing globalization and huge online retailers (e.g., Amazon) bringing massive selections of products to our doorstep, disposing of waste has become a huge grey area. There are now so many easy-to-access products, and therefore, lots of different types of packaging – knowing what to do with it all can be tricky and frustrating.

The least we can do is try to get the basics right. Many items – such as a newspaper or a glass jar, have obvious recycling routes. Once we have the basics sorted, we can try to learn more about how to avoid recycling mistakes, and as we receive new information, we can gradually try to change our habits by tackling one issue at a time.

Here\’s our list of the Top 10 mistakes people tend to make when recycling, and how they can be tackled.

1. Recycling packaging that’s contaminated with food

If you’re unable to remove food from the packaging (e.g. with grease stains on pizza boxes), then the packaging needs to be placed in the general waste bin. Even if a container is recyclable, if it’s got food waste on it, it’s likely to be rejected. As such, bottles, plastic containers, and tin cans all need to be rinsed, or potentially even washed out, before placing it in its bin.

Otherwise, you can separate the parts that are completely contaminated with food. With a pizza box, for example, you can tear off the parts that are contaminated with food (e.g. the card that has oil patches, or cheese stuck to it), and then recycle the rest with your paper/card waste.

2. Failing to recycle aluminium foil (or tin foil)

Foil trays can be recycled in your metals recycling bin, if its free from food contamination. The same applies to tin foil, however, this cannot be recycled if the pieces of foil are too small, or else recycling waste sorting machines won’t detect the foil waste. So, if you have any small pieces of tin foil (e.g. from a chocolate bar, or from the top of a tub of butter), then store these until you have enough foil to scrunch it up together until it forms a ball that is at least as big as a tennis ball.

3.Contributing to card & paper contamination

The vast majority of paper items can be recycled – a general rule is: if you can rip it, you can recycle it. Types of paper that cannot be recycled (or ripped) include photographic paper and polaroid film.

Most card can also be recycled, but since tape is not recyclable, any tape used to seal packages and boxes should be removed before placing cardboard packaging in the paper/card bin. Wet paper or card cannot be recycled, however, so it must be placed in the general waste bin.

Additionally, used kitchen roll or paper towels cannot be recycled. They can often be thrown away with food waste, provided that they are a very small proportion of the overall waste and are not being placed in a food caddy in large amounts. Additionally, whilst they can be placed in the organic waste if they’ve been used to soak up food or drink residues/messes, they cannot be placed in this waste stream if they have been used alongside any cleaning chemicals.

4. Trying to recycle your disposable take-away coffee cups

Single-use coffee cups generally cannot be recycled (except from where there is a collection point specifically for these cups), as they involve a mix of materials that are difficult to separate. As such, these cups often need to be thrown in the general waste bin, destined for a landfill. Instead, try to bring a re-usable take-away cup with you to your local coffee shop.

5. Recycling all of your glass waste

Do not recycle broken glasses, pyrex dishes, or mirrors/windows. These types of glass have been heat-treated, and so they cannot be recycled. Only glass jars and bottles are recyclable forms of glass.

6. Throwing your toiletry and cleaning containers in the general waste bin

Shampoo, conditioner and other plastic toiletry bottles can be recycled with your plastic waste, as can liquid soap bottles – as long as the pump dispenser tops from soap bottles are removed from the bottle and placed into the general waste bin.

Aerosol cans (such as deodorant, hairspray, and shaving cream) can be recycled along with their cap, as long as they are completely empty – i.e., they should make a hiss noise. However, it is better to avoid aerosols (e.g., use roll on deodorant) as they contain nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.

Despite the harsh chemicals, bleach and spray-cleaner bottles can be recycled, if they are rinsed out first. Even spray trigger lids on spray-cleaning bottles can be recycled in most places, so check your local recycling to see if you can recycle the lids alongside the bottle.

7. Placing your recycling waste in plastic bags when throwing it in the bin

Within your recycling bin(s), put recycling waste directly into the bin without any bags, as this allows the waste to be easily sorted at the recycling facility. Bagged waste is often treated as contamination and sent for landfill disposal.

8. Want to recycle your soft plastic – supermarkets are your friend!!

Soft plastics – such as thin plastic bags including carrier bags, bread bags, or many bags used for frozen items – can be recycled at supermarket plastic bag drop-off points. As they can likely be recycled if they end up in the right place! Batteries can also be recycled by simply taking them to the supermarket with you next time you go shopping – most supermarkets have a collection point somewhere near their tills for you to dispose of old batteries.

Other electronics can be recycled or re-used by taking them to your local household waste recycling centre.

9. Leaving waste bulky and full of air

Do you ever run out of space in your recycling bins? A lot of space can be saved by quickly and easily squeezing some air out of your waste. Drinks cans can be crushed down, and plastic bottles should have the air squeezed out of them, then their lids replaced. This can reduce the greenhouse gases associated with the energy required to transport your recycling to its endpoint.

Additionally, crushing down your recycling to squeeze the air from it helps ensure that baling processes are done smoothly without any issues when these items end up at a recycling centre.

10. Not checking which types of items can and cannot be recycled within your specific council area

With the internet, and therefore huge amounts of information, easily accessible at just the click of a button, there is no reason not to double-check which items can be recycled in your household bins. Some councils do collect and recycle commonly used items, such as tetrapak cartons and butter tubs, but some do not. To avoid “wishful recycling”, which often leads to contamination of recycling waste, it is important to check the specific items that your council wants you to recycle.

If you are lucky enough to live in South Ayrshire Council area you can download the SAC MyBins app from iOS or Google Store and use the waste search tool to work out the correct bin to place material.

If you don’t stay in South Ayrshire but are still interested visit www.my-bins.co.uk