Recycling, what can/ can't be collected in local recycling will depend on where you are in the UK, as it changes from county to county and for those of you further afield may vary quite considerably to this too. My local council will accept a lot of different types of plastics that some councils will not accept, such as plastic shopping bags, which some councils refuse meaning you have to find somewhere else to recycle it.
My council will accept the following plastic recycling:
Plastic packaging (in the photo it has things like yoghurt pots, microwave trays, butter tubs etc).
Carrier bags (pictured shopping bags)
Plastic bottles (minus the lids)
There are however different types of all of these plastics, as some have the 3 arrows recycling symbols but with a number in the middle of it which will tell you the recyclability of that piece of plastic. I've been searching the internet trying to find out if my local recycling will note down which numbers of plastic they will accept in their recycling, however I cannot find it at the moment. It would be useful if they displayed these on their kerbside bins so we know what they definitely will accept and what they don't, so at the moment it does leave the average person somewhat perplexed as to what can be collected or not.
I found this table online that gives you a rough idea of what each of the symbols mean and whether they can be recycled or not. So it looks as though generally my kerbside collection will probably only accept 1,2 and 4 type plastics, and the others become much trickier. If you are concerned about these, it might be wise to contact your local council to try and get an answer for which of these are accepted or not.
Interestingly as well, there are some plastics that have a "recycling logo" but confusingly this may not mean they can be recycled. It actually means that the producer has a financial contribution to the recovery and recycling of the product. Basically meaning it cannot be recycled. I found this on a malteser packet so thought i'd check it and realised I'd been throwing it into the recycling when it shouldn't be going there. So beware of this symbol!
There are some things that can be recycled by the local supermarkets, who accept the carrier bags for recycling, these include: Bread bags, breakfast cereal packets, toilet/kitchen roll wraps, shrink wrap, magazine wraps etc. These can be recycled, however a lot of the time they are reused to make bin bags for the general waste bins, so they'll end up in the landfill anyway, no matter what you do.
Depressing huh?
So this is why it would be better to reduce the plastic used in the first places, rather than trying to deal with the consequences. Saying that, some companies such as Lush do recycle their own pots, which I will go into the next blog.
Petrol Stations - these are a massive problem in my opinion, the same as any quick, convenient shops as they have almost everything packaged in plastic. Everything. As they are a place for people to stop, grab and go, 98% of the products they have are completely packaged in plastic. Exceptions to these are cans of drinks and maybe apples/bananas if provided. All pastries, sandwiches, and snacks all come wrapped, making it impossible for someone avoiding it to actually buy anything. I've had to go there to get milk for my nan (as she cannot have my amazing raw milk), getting her bread short notice (when she calls me at like 7pm on my way home from work, when there is no chance in hell of a bakery being open) and it's just annoying really.
Who decided plastic was a mark of cleanliness I don't know, but it seems a lot of companies over package their goods, which most of the time is unnecessary and unwanted by the consumer.
Anyhow, until next time!
Thanks for reading.
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