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Recycling Week: Tips to Rescue your Waste

Courtney McGrath

Recycle Week 2024 launched on 14th October with a purpose to raise awareness about the importance of recycling and reducing waste. This year's theme, "Rescue Me", focused on rescuing recyclable items from heading to rubbish bins and landfill. In this blog, we have gathered practical tips for identifying and saving recyclable items, so that you can become a Recycling Rescue Hero in 2024!

A silver peddle bin overflowing with recyclable waste, including plastic bottles, mushroom containers and take away trays

This Recycling Week came with a shocking statistic: UK households are wasting one billion items every year that could be recycled! Recent studies found that the most thrown out items are:


  • 7.4 million yoghurt pots

  • 845 million cleaning product bottles

  • 6 million aftershave and perfume bottles

  • 526 million aerosols

  • and toilet roll tubes!


Why is it so beneficial to recycle?


Recycling Conserves Resources and Protects the Environment

By recycling, we reduce the consumption of natural resources. Recycling a used product stops the need for a new product to be made, reducing the amount of raw materials we need to extract or grow each year.


By reducing our need for raw materials we can reduce the amount of quarrying, mining and logging carried out. Not only this but we can reduce the amount of refining and processing of raw materials, all of which create pollution and use up valuable water resources. It is currently estimated that more that 18 million tonnes of CO2 emissions are saved each year in the UK alone by recycling.

Recycling Saves Energy

Mining, refining and manufacturing all use considerable amounts of energy, especially when we consider the additional transport and other materials needed in the processing. Using recycled materials uses significantly less energy than starting from scratch.


Recycling reduces landfill

The UK sends millions tonnes to landfill every year, using up acres of our landscape and putting products into the ground which can take hundreds of years to decompose. Did you know that it can take up to 100 years for a plastic bag to decompose and up to 450 years for a disposable nappy! If we can decrease the amount of waste that’s sent to landfill we can reduce the amount or greenhouse gases, toxins and leachate that are released into the environment.


A stack of clear boxes with the recycling logo on the front. The top box is for paper, the next one down is for plastic, the next one down is for metals and the one on the floor is for glass.
Recycling boxes

How To Rescue Your Items

When you're thinking of binning an item, take a moment to consider if it can be recycled. Rescuing recyclable items is a simple yet impactful way to be more sustainable.


1. Find other ways to repurpose


First and foremost, before items head to the recycling bin, you should look to repurpose. Consider creative ways you can add longevity to items, such as using glass jars for storage or for plant propagation, or carboard boxes as organisers. Be a creative and crafty sustainability hero by adding new life into unwanted items!


2. Understand your local recycling guidelines.


If you don’t already recycle, contact your local council for a bin and an information pack on what is recycled in your area. If you live in an area that isn’t supported by a council collection, sort your card, plastics, paper, glass and metals and take them to a recycling drop off. Familiarise yourself with what can and cannot be recycled in your local area.


3. Set Up A Recycling Station


Find a designated spot for your recycling in your home. Ideally next to your general waste bin for easy, direct access. You can use clear bins, and for extra organisation you can label them into their materials (paper, plastic, glass, cardboard, metal).


4. Rinse before you recycle


To prevent contaminating entire batches of recyclable materials, ensure that you are only placing clean, dry items in the recycling bin. This means no food residue.


In addition to this, ensure items are separated correctly. A few common things to remember; remove film lids from plastic food containers, remove plastic from cardboard, take tops of glass bottles and remove windows from envelopes.


5. Monitor waste habits


If you were to look at a week or two weeks worth of waste in your household, what common items would you see? Keep track of the frequently thrown items, and notice whether certain items could actually be recycled. You can then adjust those habits going forward.

6. Educate others


Don't keep this information to yourself - share this knowledge about recycling with friends, family, neighbours, colleagues and your community. The more people understand what can and can't be recycled, the more items that can be rescued!


It's time to be a recycling hero!

Recycling Week is a reminder that we all have a role to play in protecting the environment and building a brighter future for all. By reducing our waste, rescuing what can be recycled and focussing on sustainable practices, we can help conserve natural resources and reduce pollution. However, not just for one week, but every week!


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