recycling again

Our LA takes the bottle tops now, and the plastic supermarket containers, butter tubs, yoghurt pots. The latest additions to the long list are aluminium foil, aerosol cans and small electrical items, leads, etc. They take old shoes and textiles too, that are past being re-used (underwear, laddered tights and so on). We’ve a lot of bags and bins, but count ourselves very lucky.

They do charge for a garden waste bin, which I think is fair.

Our LA take most things for recycling but we have to separate everything into different boxes, bins and bags and remember what to put out when. They also have a limit on how much general (black bag) waste they will collect to encourage recycling.
I don't think this is working as fly tipping has increased.
I agree that a nationwide system would be great as I never what to put where at DDs in a neighbouring authority.

Fennel I quite agree with you. I find exactly the same. We have been away for the weekend at a friends holiday home. Completely different rules to us. I just chickened out and brought all our rubbish, admittedly not much, home with us and then sorted it.

I never recycle anything when visiting DC for the same reasons. Just leave everything on the kitchen worktop and let them do it.

If you don't have a garden you don't compost - so surely it makes sense to have food bins?

I understand the system of bins we have here in East Suffolk but what I can never work out is which plastic is recyclable and which isn't. So much of it isn't, if it doesn't have a recycle sign on does that mean it's not, and has to go in the general waste bin?

A friend told me that hard plastic is recyclable, soft plastic, such as plastic bags and clingfilm, isn't. Though in France they recycled all plastics. The recycling centre used to have an open day each year where you could go and watch the workers, wearing heavy rubber gloves, sorting the contents of the recycling bins, which were carried past them on conveyor belts. . What a job .
Perhaps it depends what resources exist in your area for re-cycling. Maybe there are private enterprises which specialise in recycling one type of material, and some don't always exist in our area.

Plastic bags are recyclable. Our kerbside recycling doesn’t include them, but Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s take any sort, from any store. Other supermarkets are available and probably do the same.