Let's Get Real About Recycling

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From the 17th to the 23rd of October 2022 it's Recycle Week!


The theme of this year's campaign is 'Let's Get Real', which aims to challenge perceptions and myths around recycling, and target contamination to improve recycling rates.

As a borough, we have seen great improvements in our recycling rates over the past two years, which have increased from 45% in 2019/20 to 55.7% in 2021/22. We hope to further improve this recycling rate to 65% by 2035.

It's no secret that recycling can be confusing, as it can be difficult to know whether you are following the right rules. Life can also sometimes get in the way of people wanting to do their bit. Forgot to rinse after a long day? We’ve all been there. And everyone chucks without checking once in a while. But the reality is that wrong items can spoil the bunch and make a whole lorry load un-recyclable. By avoiding recycling contamination, less rubbish goes to landfill, which means the materials can be reprocessed into something new, thus helping the environment.

This article will dispel common myths and misconceptions surrounding recycling, which should arm you with a better understanding of how to do your bit!


True: Items need to be cleaned of food residue for them to be recycled properly

Making sure containers are clean so that no food residue is left on them is important. If food residue is left it will contaminate the other items in your recycling, causing items that could have been recycled to end up in landfill unnecessarily.

This isn’t just the case for plastic items! Food grease on paper or cardboard packaging can cause issues whilst being processed. If any of your food packaging has grease on it (such as pizza boxes), throw it into the bin so that it doesn't contaminate perfectly good recyclable paper and cardboard.


False: Nappies and sanitary products can be put in my kerbside recycling bin

Unfortunately, products like nappies, sanitary pads and wet wipes can’t be recycled. These items need to be placed in the bin to avoid contaminating other items in your recycling.


True: Items made of multiple materials can’t be recycled

Items such as pringle tubes and frozen food boxes are tricky to recycle as they are made from multiple materials and so can’t be put into kerbside recycling.

However, certain stores offer recycling drop off points for some of these hard to recycle items, such as empty blister packs of medicine. We've created an online map that details in-store recycling points in your area, to help you recycle these items!


False: Most plastic items can’t be recycled

You can recycle many plastic items kerbside, including:

• Plastic bottles – drinks, milk, detergent, cleaning products, shampoo, toiletries

• Pots – yoghurt, puddings, custard, jelly, plant pots (not black)

• Tubs – margarine, ice cream, fruit punnets

• Trays – meat, ready meals (not black), cake trays, plastic egg boxes

• Tetra pak food and drink cartons


However, the following items cannot be recycled kerbside so need to be placed in your black bin:

• Polystyrene

• Plastic films such as those over fruit punnets, bread, or trays

• Bubble wrap

• Crisp packets and sweet wrappers

• Medicine packs such as paracetamol (but you can recycle the outer cardboard box)

• Toothpaste tubes (but you can recycle the outer cardboard box)

• Laminated pouches such as cat food

• Carrier bags

• Broken rigid plastic toys

Some of these items can still be recycled in your local area. Check out our in-store recycling map to check out what can be recycled near you!


True: If you’re not sure if something can be recycled, leave it out

It’s easy to have a 'hope for the best' attitude towards throwing items into recycling. However, throwing a non-recyclable item in with the rest could risk ruining a whole batch, with the items ending up in landfill instead of being recycled. Therefore, if in doubt – leave it out!

However, to help with this, Recycle Now has a useful Recycling Locator on their website, which helps you to figure out what can and can’t be put in your kerbside recycling.

For more information on household rubbish collections within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, please check out our website here.


We'd love to know how you're participating in Recycle Week. Use the #RecycleWeek on Twitter to let us know how you're getting involved!

From the 17th to the 23rd of October 2022 it's Recycle Week!


The theme of this year's campaign is 'Let's Get Real', which aims to challenge perceptions and myths around recycling, and target contamination to improve recycling rates.

As a borough, we have seen great improvements in our recycling rates over the past two years, which have increased from 45% in 2019/20 to 55.7% in 2021/22. We hope to further improve this recycling rate to 65% by 2035.

It's no secret that recycling can be confusing, as it can be difficult to know whether you are following the right rules. Life can also sometimes get in the way of people wanting to do their bit. Forgot to rinse after a long day? We’ve all been there. And everyone chucks without checking once in a while. But the reality is that wrong items can spoil the bunch and make a whole lorry load un-recyclable. By avoiding recycling contamination, less rubbish goes to landfill, which means the materials can be reprocessed into something new, thus helping the environment.

This article will dispel common myths and misconceptions surrounding recycling, which should arm you with a better understanding of how to do your bit!


True: Items need to be cleaned of food residue for them to be recycled properly

Making sure containers are clean so that no food residue is left on them is important. If food residue is left it will contaminate the other items in your recycling, causing items that could have been recycled to end up in landfill unnecessarily.

This isn’t just the case for plastic items! Food grease on paper or cardboard packaging can cause issues whilst being processed. If any of your food packaging has grease on it (such as pizza boxes), throw it into the bin so that it doesn't contaminate perfectly good recyclable paper and cardboard.


False: Nappies and sanitary products can be put in my kerbside recycling bin

Unfortunately, products like nappies, sanitary pads and wet wipes can’t be recycled. These items need to be placed in the bin to avoid contaminating other items in your recycling.


True: Items made of multiple materials can’t be recycled

Items such as pringle tubes and frozen food boxes are tricky to recycle as they are made from multiple materials and so can’t be put into kerbside recycling.

However, certain stores offer recycling drop off points for some of these hard to recycle items, such as empty blister packs of medicine. We've created an online map that details in-store recycling points in your area, to help you recycle these items!


False: Most plastic items can’t be recycled

You can recycle many plastic items kerbside, including:

• Plastic bottles – drinks, milk, detergent, cleaning products, shampoo, toiletries

• Pots – yoghurt, puddings, custard, jelly, plant pots (not black)

• Tubs – margarine, ice cream, fruit punnets

• Trays – meat, ready meals (not black), cake trays, plastic egg boxes

• Tetra pak food and drink cartons


However, the following items cannot be recycled kerbside so need to be placed in your black bin:

• Polystyrene

• Plastic films such as those over fruit punnets, bread, or trays

• Bubble wrap

• Crisp packets and sweet wrappers

• Medicine packs such as paracetamol (but you can recycle the outer cardboard box)

• Toothpaste tubes (but you can recycle the outer cardboard box)

• Laminated pouches such as cat food

• Carrier bags

• Broken rigid plastic toys

Some of these items can still be recycled in your local area. Check out our in-store recycling map to check out what can be recycled near you!


True: If you’re not sure if something can be recycled, leave it out

It’s easy to have a 'hope for the best' attitude towards throwing items into recycling. However, throwing a non-recyclable item in with the rest could risk ruining a whole batch, with the items ending up in landfill instead of being recycled. Therefore, if in doubt – leave it out!

However, to help with this, Recycle Now has a useful Recycling Locator on their website, which helps you to figure out what can and can’t be put in your kerbside recycling.

For more information on household rubbish collections within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, please check out our website here.


We'd love to know how you're participating in Recycle Week. Use the #RecycleWeek on Twitter to let us know how you're getting involved!

Page last updated: 14 Dec 2022, 04:06 PM