RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE

This year, the theme is ‘Let’s Get Real’ and will challenge perceptions and myths around recycling.
Recycle Week – 19th to 25th September.

something that we can all do to help the current state of the environment is by correctly recycling our waste. Encouraging people to recycle was the first step, now we need to step up our recycling habits to ensure we are throwing the right things in the right bins.

The core reason why we recycle materials is to reduce the need to grow, harvest or extract new materials from the Earth. Avoiding the harmful disruption to our planet means that fewer forests will be cut down, fewer animals will be harmed or moved and there will be less pollution of water, soil and air.

The Earth only has a finite amount of resources therefore, we should be protecting them by reusing what we already have instead of searching for untouched raw materials.

Manufacturing recycled products still requires energy to do so, however, it is considerably less compared to generating brand-new products from raw materials. In fact, producing recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than making it from scratch and making recycled paper uses 40% less energy than making it from virgin wood fibres!

You can order your black garden waste bin from www.plymouth.gov.uk and it will be dropped off outside your house. The collection for garden waste varies as they prioritise the green and brown bins first.

Unfortunately, Plymouth doesn’t offer food waste bins but that doesn’t mean you can’t still do your bit! Plymouth City Council has teamed up with www.getcomposting.com to provide us Plymouth residence with our very own composting bin at a reduced cost. Made from 100% recycled plastic, their composting bins offer a sustainable solution to food waste for as little as £25!

Image by getcomposting.com

Compost can take between six months to two years to reach its maturity and will resemble crumbly, dark brown soil. This is then perfect for improving vegetables and flowers and can be spread lightly over the grass to help it grow.

What can’t be recycled?

What we think can be recycled is probably very different to what can be recycled. A common mindset is, the more we recycle, the better for the environment, which is all well and good until we start recycling the wrong things.

Here is a list of items from www.ecoscraps.com that are commonly mistaken to be recyclable

Loose Plastic Bags
• Plastic shopping bags
• Plastic stretch wrap

Polystyrene Foam Containers
• Egg cartons
• Take out containers
• Drinking cups

Soiled Food Items
• Food soiled containers
• Soiled paper products

Other
• Broken or sharp glass
• Fast-food packaging
• Plastic Utensils
• Most receipts

The perfect item to be recycled should be sparkling clean and then it can be processed back into exactly the material it was before. There is no direct rule in how clean it should be to get recycled; they will often judge the item individually and make a decision there and then. The dirtier items will be produced into less high-quality materials. So, when it doubt, wash it out!