It’s great to be in a position to say that recycling has become a normal part of everyday life here in the UK, with 89% of us regularly recycling, according to WRAP’s October 2022 Recycling Tracker report. But as with everything, there’s still room for improvement: over half of us (54%) admit that we put things in the general rubbish bin when it would be accepted in our household recycling. Not ideal!
This is often because we might feel that one or two of us chucking one or two items in the bin instead of the recycling won’t make much of a difference. The truth, though, is that it all adds up. If each of us committed to recycling a few more things, that amounts to a big difference overall – and it needn’t cost us any extra effort. Let’s take a look at how.
Why we don’t always recycle, even when we could
It’s not just that we feel it won’t make much difference – there are lots of potential reasons why we might bin a recyclable item instead of recycling it. Being honest about it – not to beat ourselves up, but to understand the reasons – is the first step to doing something about it. For example, we might think:
“I’m not sure whether it can be recycled” – it’s common to feel unsure whether or not something can be recycled, or whether certain parts need removing before it can be recycled, and to put it in the general rubbish bin to be on the safe side.
“I’m not touching that” – the “yuck” factor sometimes means we don’t want to deal with food residue, such as rinsing out food packaging, so we bin it to avoid contaminating the rest of our recycling.
“It’s too much hassle” – rinsing things out or removing parts can feel like extra hassle, when we just want to sit down and relax at the end of a long day.
“Pop it in the bathroom bin” – the kitchen isn’t the only place where things can be recycled, but non-kitchen recycling can fall by the wayside without an established habit, routine or dedicated bin for recycling items elsewhere in the house (such as in the bathroom).
Recognise any of these thought processes? The good news is that none of them take any real extra effort to overcome. For example, it’s easy to look up whether something can be recycled, and once you know, you know for next time too. It only takes a quick rinse in the washing up water when you’ve finished the dishes to get rid of food residue ready for recycling, and you could simply hang a bag on the back of your bathroom door for bathroom recyclables, such as empty shampoo bottles.
Commonly missed household items that you can recycle
It’s also fair to say that there are a few household items that get binned rather than recycled more often than others, and these represent a great way to increase the amount of recycling your household does. These include:
Foil – it’s as simple as cleaning off food residue and scrunching it into a ball ready for recycling bin day, yet 29% of us are still putting foil and foil trays in the general rubbish bin. Remember, the bigger the ball, the easier it is to recycle.
Aerosols – whether it’s air freshener or deodorant, aerosols don’t belong in the bin – but 23% of us put them there! In fact, only the lids should go in with the general rubbish, while empty aerosols can go in the recycling.
Clear plastic trays – from fruit punnets to mushroom and meat trays, 14% of us are putting clear plastic trays in the rubbish bin even though our local council collects them for recycling. A quick rinse to remove food residue is all it takes to get them recycling-ready, so steer clear of that general bin!
Plastic pots and tubs – plastic pots and tubs, such as yogurt pots and butter tubs, belong in the recycling, yet 10% of us are chucking them in the rubbish bin. Recycle yours by making sure they’re clean and empty; you can leave the labels and lids on, but do remove any plastic film and absorbent pads and put these in the general waste bin.
Toiletry and cleaning product bottles – don’t be among the 11% and 12% of UK households respectively who put these in their rubbish bins instead of recycling! Simply rinse and squash them, and put them in the recycling with the labels and lids on. You can even recycle spray bottles with the spray/trigger still in, but remove the lid from those with pump dispensers (such as hand wash bottles).
How many of these can you add to your regular recycling regime?
Why bother?
You’re already doing plenty of recycling, so why bother recycling even more? The simple answer is that the more we all recycle, the more we keep valuable materials in use. This reduces the need to extract ‘new’ raw materials and resources, helping to save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle climate change.
Local council recycling collection services can vary, but fear not – you can always check what you can recycle in your area with our handy Recycling Locator. Individual efforts add up to a big difference when we all do it, so let’s see how much we can save from the bin!
