The best way to minimise the rubbish you send to landfills is to choose biodegradable products with compostable or no packaging. However, this is not always possible, and therefore recycling is also essential to help reduce our waste.
Unfortunately, working out what can and cannot be recycled is confusing and often varies between councils, states and countries. This confusion may put you off recycling in the first place or result in your recycling becoming contaminated and useless.
Our ‘Recycling 101’ post provides some handy tips to help you recycle confidently. With a little bit of local research, thought, and care, you can ensure that your reusable waste does not end up in a landfill.
1. Identify Which Plastics your Local Authority Accepts for Kerbside Recycling
You can recycle all plastics; however, it is often only economically viable for local authorities to accept a few of them. Therefore, you must verify what types of plastics you can put in your kerbside recycling bin.
You can do this by checking online, calling your local authority, or looking at the pictures on your bin. It is also essential to separate your soft plastics as these are usually recycled separately. As a general rule, if it’s not firm plastic packaging, it doesn’t belong in your recycling bin.
There are seven ASTM International Resin Identification Coding System plastic identification codes (RIC). The RIC symbols usually appear on the base or lids of products and should not be confused with the general recycling symbol, which looks similar. The seven RIC codes are:
♳ PET – Polyethylene Terephthalate
PET is commonly used to make water and soft drink bottles. It is one of the most widely recycled plastics and is accepted kerbside. Even Coca-Cola bottles now have ‘Recycle me; I can become another bottle’ written on them.
♴ HDPE – High-Density Polyethylene
You will most likely encounter HDPE plastic as a milk bottle, detergent bottle or shampoo bottle. You can put HDPE products into your recycling bin as long as they are not in film form. It is recycled into floor tiles, agricultural pipes, compost bins, crates and garden edging.
♵ PVC – Polyvinyl Chloride
PVC is either unplasticised or plasticised. Clear cordial and juice bottles are unplasticised and can be put in your recycling bin. Plasticising PVC makes it more flexible, for example, for use as a garden hose or shower curtain, but these items are not accepted kerbside.
♶ LDPE – Low-Density Polyethylene
Uses for LDPE include black plastic sheeting, bin liners, ice-cream container lids and carrier bags. LDPE is unlikely to be accepted by your local authority as it mostly comes in film form. If recycled, LDPE becomes plastic film for builders, planter bags and garbage bags.
♷ PP – Polypropylene
PP is used to make margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays and hinged lunch boxes. This plastic is also widely recycled and accepted kerbside. Once repurposed, PP transforms into compost bins, crates and building panels.
♸ PS – Polystyrene
You will predominantly encounter polystyrene as packaging for goods in transit. Other uses include hot drink cups, fast food containers and meat trays. Expanded (foam) polystyrene tends not to be accepted kerbside. If recycled, PS becomes clothes pegs, coathangers and CD boxes.
♹ Other – All Other Plastics
All other plastics that do not fall into the above categories, including acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polylactic acid, will have the number 7 symbol or the word ‘other’ on them. You should not include these items in your kerbside recycling.
2. Take your Soft Plastics to your Participating Supermarket or Retail Store for Recycling
All ‘scrunchable’ plastic can be recycled, including shopping bags, food packaging, potato chip bags and the like. However, only a handful of local authorities will accept these soft plastics in your household recycling bin.
Unlike rigid plastic, soft plastic is flexible and can get tangled around machine parts at recycling facilities, causing them to jam. Therefore it needs to be recycled separately using specialist technology.
The easiest way to recycle soft plastics is at a recycling point in a participating grocery or retail store. In Australia, you can recycle soft plastics through the REDcycle program. You can find collection bins in many locations, including most supermarkets.
3. Sort your Bottle Tops, Jam Jar and Container Lids
You can put steel and aluminium can and jam jar lids straight into your kerbside recycling. However, most bottle tops, and smaller container lids, are too small for processing facilities and will fall through the sorting equipment.
There is an easy fix for steel and aluminium bottle caps, such as beer bottle caps. Just collect them in an empty can of the same metal and crimp it closed so they can’t fall out. You can tell the difference between the two as only steel is magnetic.
Plastic bottle tops are a little more problematic. You can crush some plastic bottles and then replace the top before recycling. However, you cannot recycle all plastic bottles with the lid still on, and therefore you should check what is acceptable locally.
If you have a glass bottle with a plastic top, you must remove it before placing the bottle in your recycling. Unfortunately, you will not be able to put the plastic lid in your recycling, and you may have to throw it in the garbage.
If you cannot put your bottle tops in your kerbside bin, the best way to recycle them is by sending the tops to a specific collection point for processing. You can identify one local to you by searching online.
4. Scrunch your Aluminium Foil into a Ball
You probably know that you can put aluminium food and pie trays directly into your kerbside recycling. However, did you realise that you can recycle all aluminium foil, including the foil from your Easter eggs?
The main problem when recycling aluminium foil is that it is often too light for the sorting machines. Therefore, you should collect your aluminium foil over time and scrunch it into a ball. Once your foil is the size of a cricket ball, you can put it in your recycling bin.
5. Remove Plastic Parts from Aerosols before Recycling
Aerosols also cause much confusion when recycling and often end up in landfills. However, most councils can reuse the steel and aluminium in an aerosol can, and therefore you can put them in your kerbside bin.
The aerosol must be empty, and you shouldn’t try to pierce or squash the can in any way. You should also remove any plastic parts, for example, lids or plastic rings, to avoid contaminating the metal.
6. Check if Your Long-Life Milk and Juice Cartons are Accepted Kerbside
We all know that cardboard is recyclable, but what about long-life milk and juice cartons? Long-life cartons contain more than just cardboard. They consist of layers of cardboard, plastic and aluminium foil, a product known as liquid paperboard.
At first glance, you may think that liquid paperboard would not be recyclable. However, as most of the pack’s content is cardboard, many councils will accept the cartons for recycling. You will need to check if this applies to your local authority.
The liquid paperboard is collected and compacted into bales and then sent to paper mills for processing. The mills can recover the cardboard from the rest of the layers in the cartons by soaking them in water.
7. Compost your Natural Corks
It is essential to identify if your cork is natural or synthetic. Many bottle corks are plastic (often type 7) or consist of a mix of cork and plastic and cannot be recycled. Unfortunately, this usually means you will have to throw them in your trash.
Natural cork is biodegradable and recyclable; however, you cannot place it in your kerbside bin. Recycling cork reduces the demand placed on cork plantations. When recycled, natural cork transforms into various products, including coasters and flooring.
There is currently no large scale cork recycling or collection of natural corks in Australia. Other countries may have recycling programs. Some smaller organisations accept natural corks for recycling, but your best bet is to shred them and then compost them.
8. Take your White Goods to a Second-Hand Dealer or Transfer Station
White goods contain large amounts of renewable materials. Some white goods, such as fridges and air conditioners, also use refrigerants that need to be disposed of properly to avoid harmful effects on the environment.
If they are in good working condition, you can donate your white goods or take them to a second-hand dealer. By donating your white goods, you ensure that the appliances’ materials and resources remain in use for as long as possible.
Some companies will remove and recycle your old appliance when they deliver or install your new one. Otherwise, you can take your white goods to your local council’s transfer station for processing.
9. Dispose of Your Hazardous Waste Thoughtfully
Some domestic items are recyclable but contain hazardous chemicals or heavy metals that must be handled and disposed of carefully. These items include car and household batteries, motor oil and paint.
Your local council, and some retailers, will often accept batteries and motor oil for recycling. Paint tins can usually be recycled kerbside if they are clean and dry. Otherwise, search online for a recycler such as paintback.com.au.
10. Send Your Phone or SmartWatch away for Recycling
Electronic waste, particularly disused mobile phones, has become a significant problem. However, almost every part of your mobile phone can be recovered and used again. By recycling your phone, you are saving energy and conserving natural resources.
Most mobile phone stores have collection boxes in-store. You can drop off your old phone once you have purchased your new one. Remember to remove your personal information before you recycle, sell or give away your mobile phone.
In Australia, Mobile Muster accepts all mobile phones, smartwatches, chargers and accessories for recycling. They offer 100% carbon-neutral recycling with some of the proceeds donated to charity. Search online to find your local equivalent.
11. Use Terracycle for Hard-to-Recycle Products
Some items are too difficult or expensive for local councils or retailers to recycle. These items usually end up in landfills, but TerraCycle is on a mission to change that. They have become a global leader in recovering hard-to-recycle waste.
TerraCycle reuses, upcycles and recycles challenging products instead of incinerating items or sending them to landfills. You can purchase a variety of zero waste boxes to use at home or in the office or check their webpage for details of their free recycling programs.
12. Sort and Prepare your Kerbside Recycling Properly
It is of utmost importance to sort your recycling carefully. The whole batch can become unusable if contaminated with one unrecyclable object, and your efforts will then be in vain. By taking the time to check what is recyclable, you can avoid this from occurring.
You should also clean food waste from items before placing them in the bin. There is no need to scrub them clean; just scrape out excess food and rinse if necessary. You can even recycle takeaway and pizza boxes, but not if they contain surplus food.
Another mistake is to put all your recycling into a plastic bag. Staff at recycling facilities do not have the time to unpack them for you. Therefore, your plastic bag and its contents will most likely end up in a landfill.
Become a Recycling Champion
Ideally, we should all purchase package-free, biodegradable products. However, in the modern world, that isn’t always possible. Therefore, recycling is also essential to help reduce our impact on the environment.
Of course, we should all try to reduce our waste by making sustainable choices and reusing items where possible. However, if that is not possible, please don’t throw things in the bin that you can recycle.
Hopefully, our Recycling 101 post will help you recycle with confidence. With a little bit of research, thought, and care, you can become a recycling champion! Our planet, the wildlife that inhabits it, and future generations will thank you for it.