Recycling is never as easy as you might think. There are lots of little wrinkles in the way we send our recycling off to be sorted – and then hopefully recycled! Contamination of a truckload of waste can end up in the whole lot being sent to landfill.
There was an interesting article in Stuff recently. In short it seems that even though milk bottle lids might be marked as recyclable, their small size and flat shape means they can trick the sorting systems and end up in with the wrong materials.
The article offered a summary of best practice as follows:
- Only put plastics numbered 1, 2 and 5 in your recycling.
- Take off lids from all jars and bottles and put them in the rubbish, regardless of their recycling symbol.
- Ensure tin can lids are attached and pushed inside, or remove and throw away.
- Do not crush plastics or cans, as they can be mistaken for paper by sorting machines.
- When in doubt, check with your local council.
oh and of course we have developed a sticker to help spread the word
