Recycle Right and don't waste your recycling

We all know that we should recycle as much as possible and we think we are doing the right thing. But are we?

Once your pink sacks are collected the items are sorted before they can be recycled.  Last year Castle Point had to throw away 400 tonnes of pink sack waste, because they contained either the wrong items or food waste that had spoilt the correct items and stopped them from being recycled.

Follow these steps and we can recycle more and recycle better!

Check

Unsure if you can recycle it? Check our lists of what can and can’t be recycled?

Can’t find your item? email: recycling@castlepoint.gov.uk
Really Unsure? Leave it out and put it in your rubbish.

 

Rinse 

Food residues on tins or plastics not only stops these items from being recycled, but can also spread to paper/card and stop these items being recycled too.
But why?

  1. Rinsing items will stop your recycling from smelling or attracting flies in summer.
  2. Rinsing items will help prevent scavenging by animals when it is put out for collection, and waste being spilt all over the road.
  3. Once collected recyclables can take weeks going through the system to be recycled, if these are covered in leftover food, they can go mouldy and cause health and safety problems to recycling staff.
  4. Food residues can transfer to other recyclables like paper/card which may either get stained or go mouldy preventing them from being recycled.

If you rinse your recycling at the end of the washing up no additional water is needed and it is better for the environment all round.


Sorted

Check which bin before it goes in. If you have separate bins inside your house, ensure that everyone in your household puts items in the correct bin so rubbish doesn’t end up in your pink sacks. That one teabag or used tissue could prevent the whole sack from being recycled.

Large rubbish items

All rubbish items must be presented within a black sack. Items that don’t fit in a sack will not be collected. Please see our Bulky Waste service for large items we can collect. 

How to present your waste correctly

Residents should always attempt to present their refuse & recycling correctly. Learn how.