10 mistakes we make when it comes to recycling

Soft plastics 

Soft food containers (like cheese or vegetable wrappings)? A no-no. Bubblewrap? Uh-uh. Plastic bags? Absolutely not – not even to hold your recycling. What about wrapping paper? If you scrunch it in a ball and once you let go, it springs roughly back into shape, then it’s not recyclable. Tip: many supermarkets have soft plastic recycling bins, so save all these items for your next shopping trip.  

Coffee cups

The hipster at your local café isn’t just using a reusable coffee cup so they can match their latte with their leggings. Take-away cups are lined with plastic, so they can’t be recycled. And no, you can’t take the plastic layer off yourself (only a special machine can do this). Unfortunately, they have to go into the bin. 
 

Shredded paper

You’d think that because most other kinds of paper can be recycled, this one could too. Unfortunately, the shredder makes the pieces too small. The good news? Shredded paper is great for compost and can go in your green bin.   
 

Nappies and sanitary items

Nope. All these items are landfill only – whether clean or dirty. Thankfully, there are alternatives – so you might want to consider switching to reusable nappies or menstrual cups or underwear.  

Broken glass

Butterfingers! Glass can’t be recycled once it’s been broken. So, once that bottle of wine or kombucha has smashed on the floor, the pieces need to go into your regular bin (wrap them in newspaper to avoid injuries).   
 

Kitchen glasses

This one was our biggest surprise. The tough material of kitchen glasses (as well as windows and the glass from ovens) requires a higher temperature to melt than bottles and jars, and therefore can’t be put in your yellow bin. Consider donating these to a charity shop instead.  

E-waste

Surely batteries and old phones can be recycled, right? Well, they can in some contexts – but not through your regular recycling. Have a look on your local council’s website for e-waste drop-off points instead.  

Biodegradable/compostable plastic

Err, the ‘biodegradable’ bit is kind of the point. These items are designed to break down in your regular rubbish or compost (and they can’t be recycled anyway) so do what it says on the lid.  
 

Anything with food residue (even on a recyclable material)

There’s giving something a rinse, and then there’s giving something a ‘rinse’. It could be that last layer of oil in the pesto jar or the yogurt still stuck to the container, which will make the difference to whether the item gets recycled or not. If you want to prevent your recycling from ending up in landfills, it needs to be properly washed first. Tip: pizza boxes need to go straight into the regular bin; the oil and grease that soaks into the box mean there’s no chance it can be recycled.  

Drink cans, aluminium foil, tin cans

Unlike the rest of our list – these items you can recycle! Drink cartons (think milk, juice and soup cartons) are often needlessly thrown out. But most councils accept both foil-lined and non-foil-lined cartons (you might want to check with them what their rules are). But all these are often mistakenly thrown away, even though these scraps can be useful for remaking other items, so into the yellow-lid bin they go.