How to recycle (nearly) every item in your home
Not sure what goes in your recycling bin? You’re not alone – the Good Food Nation 2024 survey revealed 14% of us can't recycle everything we want to. So, we found out which items you can recycle, from aluminium foil to yogurt pots.
Rinsing out a tin can and putting it in the recycling bin is now second nature to many of us, but what about those bits and pieces you’re not so sure about? Can you recycle crisp packets? Do light bulbs go in with the rest of the glass? And is there a definitive answer on pizza boxes?
Luckily, you can recycle almost every item in your home – you just need to know how and, most importantly, where.
Why are we still confused about recycling?
The simple answer is it’s a confusing issue! Several studies and reports over the past few years have highlighted key problems for shoppers, such as being unsure what the symbols on packaging mean, what the proper recycling guidelines are, and the differences in recycling collections across the UK.
This has led to the term ‘wishcycling’; putting items you’re not sure about in the recycling bin in the hope they can be recycled. But this could contaminate the whole lorry load, so everything gets sent to landfill rather than being recycled.
If you’re not sure what to do, this guide will help but always check with your local council to find out what can and cannot be recycled where you live. Organisations like Recycle Now can also help you find local recycling points for different items.
The most common items we’re not sure about
The Good Food Nation survey revealed the most common items we find difficult to recycle are soft plastics, electrical items and hard plastics. But these can be safely and successfully recycled, along with many other items you might not be aware of.
Soft plastics
This doesn’t mean items like standard milk bottles but rather thin, flexible plastics such as bread bags, crisp packets, salad bags and film lids. Only 12% of local councils currently collect soft plastics but the majority of UK supermarkets have now signed up to a scheme to collect these types of plastics.
Do the ‘scrunch test’ to check if your item is suitable – scrunch it up into a ball and if it pings back, it’s most likely a soft plastic. Some items will also tell you on the packaging if it can be recycled at a larger supermarket. And, as with all recycling, make sure it’s clean and empty before dropping it off at a collection point.
When it comes to cling film, it's not currently widely recycled as it's too thin and can get caught in the machinery. So it most likely goes in your rubbish bin, then ends up in landfill. Ask your local authority if they do have any way to recycle it or avoid using it altogether; you can swap cling film for beeswax wraps or reusable silicone lids.
Household and hard plastics
Only 44% of Brits recycle their plastic packaging, so there’s lots of room for improvement, but not every type of plastic can go in the recycling bin. Check if your local council will collect items like yogurt pots, plastic tubs and takeaway trays, or whether you need to take them to larger household recycling centres.
Not many of us know that hard plastics, such as patio furniture, storage boxes or kids’ toys can also be recycled. It’s unlikely your council will collect them, but you can drop them off at a local recycling centre. You could also donate toys to charity so even more children get to enjoy them.
Health and beauty items
Items like shampoo bottles, shower gel containers and moisturiser tubs can probably be put into your household recycling bin (obviously check first) but what about empty lipsticks? Travel-size toiletries? Pill blister packs? The good news is they can be recycled, but the even better news is you could get a reward for doing so!
Several big brands now offer shoppers an incentive to recycle their health and beauty empties. The Recycle at Boots scheme, Kiehl’s rewards programme and Bring It Back by Lush will turn your used items into treats such as loyalty points, vouchers or money off your next purchase.
There are other schemes available, such as Maybelline’s make-up recycling programme or the pill blister pack collection scheme at Superdrug, but there’s no physical reward – just the wonderful feeling of helping the environment.
Small electrical items
Brits throw away 103,000 tonnes of electricals every year, creating a new category known as e-waste. Not only does this simply sit in landfill, valuable resources inside those items (copper cables, steel casings, gold or aluminium parts) cannot be stripped and recycled.
Some local councils may collect small electrical items such as toothbrushes, vapes or mobile phones, but check in advance before leaving them out on the curb. You can also search for local recycling centres on Recycle Your Electricals.
Many shops will now recycle your old electricals, thanks to the Retailer Take-back Scheme. So, if you need a new toaster, for example, they’ll take back your old one and recycle it for you. Again, check in advance and empty out any old crumbs…
Foil and metal containers
Recycling food and drink cans is one of the best things you can do for the environment. Steel and aluminium can be repeatedly recycled without losing quality – 75% of the aluminium ever made is still in circulation – while recycling cans uses 95% less energy than creating them from their raw materials.
And you can crush cans before putting them in the recycling. It used to be thought this made them harder to recycle, but sorting facilities now separate them from other recyclables using electricity rather than by size or shape.
Foil food trays, like takeaway containers or disposable BBQs, can be recycled, as can biscuit tins, aerosol cans and aluminium tubes like tomato purée. Just make sure they’re empty and remove any plastic caps.
Kitchen foil can be recycled, too, but scrunch up any scraps into the size of a tennis ball before putting it in the bin. This makes it easier for the sorting machines to detect it (and to play cricket at home).
Clothes and textiles
If you’re not already selling your unwanted clothes on sites like eBay or Vinted, you can take them to a local charity shop – reusing is always better than recycling. You could also drop them at a textiles bank, usually found in a supermarket or local carpark, or take them to H&M and collect a gift voucher for your next shop.
But don’t just throw them away; 10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every five minutes in the UK. And what about bed sheets and blankets? You can take them to a local recycling centre, along with duvets and pillows, or find your nearest branch of Dunelm who offer a textile take-back scheme. Again, clean items only please.
Food and garden waste
If your local council doesn’t collect organic waste – essentially food and garden waste – you could compost it at home. No garden? No worries. Search for a community composting scheme near you or take it to your local recycling centre.
You could also sign up to a community sharing app such as Olio. You snap a photo of your unwanted food (perhaps you’re going away or clearing out cupboards), upload it to Olio and people living nearby can request and collect it.
To help prevent leftover food from local cafés, shops and restaurants going to waste, download the Karma or Too Good to Go apps and enjoy dinner at a discount.
Paper and cardboard
Even though cardboard and paper waste are widely recycled in this country, there are some common mistakes we keep making. Did you know brown paper should be recycled with cardboard, not paper, otherwise it causes flecks in the new paper? Or that envelopes with windows can now be recycled?
Wrapping paper always causes family ‘discussions’ at Christmas but you can do another type of scrunch test – if it stays scrunched up, it goes in the paper recycling but if it springs open, it contains foil and should be binned. Always check if your local council will accept wrapping paper, as some is too low-quality to be recycled.
Finally, when it comes to pizza boxes, the simple answer is to use your judgement. If it’s just a bit stained or greasy, this is fine but if the box is covered in cheese and bits of food, it cannot be recycled. However, you can still remove the lid and recycle that.
Glass items
Glass is one of the most recycled materials in Europe, but not every type of glass can go in the recycling bin. Broken drinking glasses have a different melting point to glass normal jars and bottles, so can contaminate the whole load. For now, smashed glasses go in your normal waste bin.
Energy-saving light bulbs can be recycled at most local recycling centres, but older incandescent light bulbs must go in your waste bin. They contain fine wires that are difficult to separate during recycling, so the costs are too high to make it worthwhile.
Is recycling really the answer?
There’s plenty of debate over whether it is worth recycling, but the fact is recycling helps reduce the need for natural resources, creates jobs and protects the environment, plus many other benefits. But it’s also true that if we can reduce the amount and type of packaging we purchase, we won’t need to recycle as much.
The Good Food Nation survey found nearly a quarter of us are more likely to buy something if it comes in sustainable packaging, but until every manufacturer and producer makes this possible, find out which food packaging to avoid to help reduce your recycling, and how you can be a better recycler.
More like this
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Is 'closed loop' the future of recycling?
5 pieces of food packaging to avoid
How to recycle your electricals and appliances
How to reduce food packaging waste
Rosalind Ryan is a journalist and editor specialising in health, lifestyle and environmental issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience writing for publications including The Guardian, The Independent, Healthy magazine and Women’s Health.
Images: Getty
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