What can you (and can’t you) put in your recycling bin?

Today, 08 February Wiltshire Council launched their new awareness campaign regarding what you can/can’t put in a recycling bin, and what then to do with the bits that you thought you could put in. And what to do with items that are regarded as ‘potentially hazardous’.

‘Recycling – let’s sort it!’ is the campaign’s title. As well as telling us, as from next week – w/c 13 February – waste crews will, to quote: ‘advise residents if their bins cannot be emptied due to the wrong items being place in the recycling bin‘. What does this actually mean? Reading their statement closely it might mean that if the wrong items are in a bin, it might not get emptied. Or maybe it’s just a warning. But we’ll see……

As from Monday 20 Feb, a week later, they will attach an amber hanger to any contaminated bins they come across. This hanger will advise people that their blue-lidded bin had the wrong items in it, but it will still be emptied on that collection.

As from two weeks later – Monday 06 March – ‘crews will begin rejecting more heavily contaminated bins and will attach a red hanger that explains why the bin has not been emptied. In these cases, residents will need to remove the contamination ready for their next scheduled collection.’

So what can you put in a blue lid recycling bin/container, and more importantly, what can’t you put in one….?

It’s a long list – too long to be shown here and many items shown are probably those that have graced all of our recycling bins for some time. Click here to visit the section of the Wiltshire Council website where this is all spelled out.

Examples of some of the common items incorrectly placed in blue lidded bins include:

• Carrier bags and bin bags – put these in the general waste bin for energy recovery.
• Hard plastics, such as toys and plant pots – take these to a household recycling centre for recycling; or put in the general waste bin for energy recovery.
• Scrap metals – take these to a household recycling centre for recycling.
• Nappies – put these in the general waste bin for energy recovery.

Items such as plastic carrier bags, which cannot be recycled at the kerbside, get wrapped around conveyor belts at the sorting facility, which can damage the equipment.

Details of what can be placed in the general household waste bins is shown on the Wiltshire Council site here.

Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Waste, said : “It’s really important that people put the right things into their blue-lidded recycling bins, or it may not be recycled. We know that people are keen to do their bit, but some of what is put in blue-lidded bins cannot be recycled and these items are then contaminating items that could have been recycled.

“Most of the general waste we collect from households does not go to landfill but is sent to waste treatment facilities where it helps generate energy, so putting items that are not suitable for the blue-lidded recycling bin in the general waste bin still has an environmental benefit.

“We hope this campaign will help to inform and educate people so their good efforts and intentions do not go to waste. With everyone’s support to help improve recycling, we can sort it.”