We all want to recycle and do our part in minimising our environmental waste – and that’s great!
But our good intentions don’t always translate to proper recycling, especially when it comes to throwing things in our kerbside recycling bins.
The problem is that most people don’t realise that just because something is recyclable doesn’t mean it belongs in the recycling bin. That’s because kerbside recycling bins can only hold certain types of recyclables.
In fact, some recyclable materials are better off separated from your normal pile or thrown in your general rubbish bin altogether.
Here are five examples of recyclables that you should not put in your recycling bin:
1. Pizza boxes (with food scraps inside)
First things first: Pizza boxes ARE recyclable and should be put in the recycling bin – but ONLY if they don’t have any food scraps inside them.
Pizza boxes with food scraps don’t belong in the recycling bin because they could contaminate the other recyclables inside. Contaminated recyclables will often not be recycled in recycling centres and sent to the landfill instead.
So if you want to recycle pizza boxes or hard, plastic takeaway containers, make sure they don’t have any food materials left behind. Scrape them off and remove them entirely before dumping them in the recycling bin. Otherwise, they should go straight to your general rubbish bin.
2. Plastic bags holding recyclables
We all know that plastic bags should not go in the recycling bin, but you’ll be surprised to learn a lot of people still do this.
They use plastic bags to collect recyclables together and then end up throwing the whole lot together in the recycling bin. But this can make sorting the recyclables inside problematic and inefficient. Plastic bags can also clog and get caught in sorting machines, which then wastes valuable resources.
If you do use a plastic bag to collect recyclables for the recycling bin, don’t forget to spend a few extra seconds to make sure you don’t include it when you throw your recyclables.
3. Some types of glass
Although you can throw many types of glass in your recycling bin (e.g. beer bottles), there are other types of glass that you can’t.
Glass objects like mirrors, opaque drinking bottles, and drinking glasses should not be thrown in your local recycling bin. The same goes for chinaware, ceramics, and oven-proof glassware (e.g. Pyrex containers).
That’s because these types of glass are typically made of toughened glass, which requires higher temperatures to melt compared to standard glass materials. These types of glass are often better thrown in your general rubbish bin instead.
4. Coffee cups
Coffee lovers, beware! We know you want to do the right thing and recycle your takeaway coffee cups, but know that they’re better thrown in the red bin rather than the yellow recycle bin.
Yes, your standard coffee cups are made of paper (which is recyclable), but they’re also lined with plastic inside to make them waterproof. This plastic lining doesn’t belong in the recycling bin, and it could end up contaminating the rest of the recyclables in the lot.
With that said, you can recycle the hard plastic lids that takeaway coffee cups come in. So feel free to chuck the lid in the recycling bin, but not the cup itself.
5. Clothes
As much as you should recycle old clothes, they still should not be placed in your recycling bin.
Many people still end up putting clothes in the recycling bin, thinking it’ll be set aside in the recycling facility and donated to charity. But that’s often not the case.
The worst part is that the clothes can contaminate the rest of the items in the recycling bin, which could then make the entire bin collection end up in the landfill instead.
If you really want to recycle your old clothes and fabrics (especially if they’re still in good condition), you’re better off donating them personally to a charity instead.
Got a lot of junk and rubbish to recycle?
If you have a lot of things to get rid of, but you don’t want to go through all the work involved to recycle and get rid of them properly, give us a call or send us a message. We can remove and recycle these things for you, so they’re recycled properly and don’t end up in the landfill. Not only then will you be able to get rid of your junk and rubbish, but you can help the environment as well.