Reduce My Rubbish
What can you do?
MoreRight Thing Right Bin Project
The infographics below were part of a Broadland District Council project to address recycling behaviours.
They were produced to encourage the right things going in the right bin.
The following are some common items that the Recycling Team have found in recycling bins that should be placed in the general waste bin:
- Bagged items
- Soft plastics (plastic carrier bags, bread bags, crisp packets)
- Textiles
- Tissues
- Food waste
- Mixed materials (Pringles tubes, pill packets, takeaway cups)
- Polystyrene
What is Contamination?
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Not only is it important that your recycling is clean, dry and loose – it also needs to contain only things that can be recycled. When non-recyclable items (like nappies or food) end up in your recycling it causes problems at our sorting facility and can lead to whole loads of recycling going to landfill instead.
Where does your recycling go?
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Once your recycling is collected it is taken to a facility in Costessey where it is sorted by hand and machine into different materials. 90% of the materials in your recycling bin are sent to different parts of the UK to be reprocessed into new products, whilst 10% (mainly cardboard) are sent overseas to certified facilities.
How is your recycling sorted?
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Your recycling is sorted by hand and by machine into different materials, such as paper, plastic and glass. The above graphic explains some of the processes and why we ask that your recycling is clean, dry and loose
What does your recycling become?
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The items you put in your grey bin are turned into shiny new things – like plastic bottles becoming t-shirts; newspapers becoming books and much more. Your drinks can could end up a bicycle frame, and a glass jar could be made new again and return to your home!
Find out more on the Recycle Now website.
Your recycling: clean, dry, loose
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Why does your recycling need to be clean, dry and loose?
Clean: Food residue can leak from items like jars, tins and cartons and ruin your other recycling. Food-soiled cardboard, for example, can’t be processed into high quality material.
Dry: Water and other liquids can also ruin paper and cardboard in your recycling, so please make sure your rinsed items are given a chance to dry before ending up in your recycling bin!
Loose: Plastic bags can’t be opened at our recycling facility, so any bagged items will be sent for disposal as rubbish instead of recycling. This includes black sacks, plastic bags and clear sacks so please put your recyclables into your bin loose!
How is glass recycled?
A day in the life: glass jar.
Glass items can be recycled over and over again, so it’s really important they end up in your recycling bins! The glass is crushed, melted and reformed into new products so your jam jar could come back as a jar for pasta sauce. Don’t forget other recyclable glass from around your home, including toiletries bottles and perfume (but not drinking glasses or cookware!).
How is paper recycled?
A day in the life: paper
All those magazines, newspapers, envelopes, junk mail, cardboard tubes, packaging and more are taken to our recycling facility in Costessey.
Here they are sorted, before being sent to a processing facility in the UK to be shredded and pulped before being formed and pressed into new sheets ready to come back as your Sunday newspaper!
How are plastic bottles recycled?
A day in the life of: plastic bottle
Once they get to our recycling facility plastic bottles are separated from other materials based on their 3D shape – so please keep their lids on and don’t crush them! After this, your bottles are shredded and melted before being made into items like football shirts or kids toys.
How are cartons recycled?
A day in the life: juice carton
Cartons are made of a mixture of paper and plastic, which need to be separated before they can be recycled. This is done in a machine a bit like your washing machine, after which the paper fibres are dried and rolled out to make products like gravy tubs. Separated plastic could go on to make park benches or insulation!
Recycling tins and cans
A day in the life of: drinks can
Did you know that a drinks can could go through the recycling process and be back on the shelves in as little as 8 weeks? Metal from cans is endlessly recyclable, so by recycling we can use fewer raw materials which require lots of energy and produce lots of pollution when extracted from the ground.
How your recycling is sorted
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When your recycling is taken to the sorting facility in Costessey, it is first sorted by hand to remove incorrect items before going through machinery to be sorted. Keeping your recycling clean, dry and loose will help those who are sorting!
The benefits of recycling
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We’ve given you a few facts about how and what to recycle, but if you want to keep learning then please take a look around the rest of our website.
For more information about other waste topics check out Recycle Now, Love Food Hate Waste and Love Your Clothes!
