A recent survey by compliance scheme REPIC has revealed that under-30s are choosing to sell on older electrical items rather than recycle them. This is good news for the environment, as items are having their life extended through reuse, however it is bad news for the measurement of the UK’s WEEE recycling.
Continue reading Young people are selling electronics on rather than recycling them
Recycling is a hot topic right now, and rightly so — it is an important method of saving the majority of our waste from landfill sites. Waste sent to landfill results in further use of virgin materials, and a negative impact upon the environment in terms of leeching and CO2 emissions. In fact, the recycling industry reduces CO2 emissions by 700 million tons per year, which is the equivalent of offsetting the total CO2 emissions of the aviation industry each year!
So, this month sees the arrival of Global Recycling Day. We’ve received a few questions about what this is and how people can get involved in it, so we thought we’d write a blog post dedicated to it. After all, we love all things recycling!
Colgate UK has announced that it has partnered with TerraCycle and set up the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Programme.
This new recycling scheme allows customers to post their used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, toothpaste packaging and electric toothbrush heads to TerraCycle for free, who will then recycle everything on behalf of Colgate. This scheme covers all brands of toothpaste and toothbrushes — not just Colgate.
Continue reading Colgate launches a toothbrush recycling service
Most offices across the country have a stock of padded envelopes in their stationery cupboard, as do many homes. These envelopes are made from paper and plastic bubble wrap usually and are ideal for posting anything that needs a bit of extra protection as it makes its way through the postal system. As online shopping has increased in popularity, so has the use of these packages. However, once a padded envelope has been used, what happens to it? Can it be recycled?
Since 1988, it’s been easy to identify what type of plastic many products, packaging and containers are made from, thanks to the creation of the Resin Identification Code, or RIC.
This is the number enclosed within a triangle that appears on many plastic items as a guide to its recyclability – but although the symbol originally included the familiar ‘recycling symbol’ of three arrows arranged in a triangular shape, not all plastics marked in this way are actually recyclable.
More recently, it is common to see a solid triangle rather than the triangular ‘recycling’ arrows, in an attempt to reduce the risk of non-recyclable plastics being misinterpreted.
Budget supermarket, Aldi, has boosted its recycling rate by switching some of its black plastic fruit and vegetable packaging out for clear plastic packaging, which is much more easily recycled.
The rest of Aldi’s black packaging will be phased out as part of the company’s commitment to making sure all of its packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. This simple change from black to clear plastic will divert 265 tonnes of plastic from landfill annually.
Continue reading Aldi boosts its recycling rate with plastic tray switch
The UK’s household recycling rate was 45.2 per cent in 2016, which improved upon 2015’s rate of 44.6 per cent. However, there is still much work to be done to boost these figures and improve our country’s efforts. We have gathered together some handy ways below to easily improve your recycling at home and when you are out and about.
Single-use plastic bottles and drinks cans can now be recycled at Canary Wharf, London, through a dedicated deposit return scheme. The machine being used to implement the scheme is said to be the first of its kind in use in the UK.
Continue reading Canary Wharf launches UK’s first waste deposit return scheme
Despite the fact that make-up and cosmetics are more popular than ever right now, there isn’t much information out there about what to do with these products once you’ve finished using them, or how to make the most out of them and save on waste. We have gathered together some top tips on how to recycle your cosmetics and also how to extend their life.
Continue reading How to recycle cosmetics — and extend their life
Food waste has been big news over the past couple of years, and with good reason: approximately one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets wasted. Closer to home, in the UK, 18 million tonnes of food ends up in landfill annually. So why should your business recycle its food waste instead of sending it to landfill? This article outlines the main reasons. If you can, aim to reduce your food waste, but for the waste that can’t be helped, consider the below points.
Continue reading Why your business should recycle its food waste
