recycling again

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Our LA was one of the leaders in recycling. We separate organic waste/ tin or metal, paper/ glass/ cardboard/ plastic bottles (but not tops).

This has been going on for years but most of our general rubbish is plastic supermarket packaging which for some reason I can't understand cannot be recycled locally.'

There’s a fair bit of waste for our food recycling bin if the grandsons are visiting. Apart from the one we call the human dustbin.

I find the food waste bin very useful. All our compostables are composted, but bones, fruit stones, fish heads and skin, shells, teabags etc go in the food waste. And the odd bit of processed or cooked food that goes mouldy or so far out of date even we won’t use it.

Good to know there is little if any waste. I use casserole "juice" that is left over as the basis for soups which I then freeze or even freeze it into ice cube trays as stock.

Food waste - when we had hens we gave them most of it, even veg. and fruit peelings etc. We also had a compost bin then. Maybe I should get one now.
Sometimes I have 'wet' food remains, such as veg from casseroles, things that have gone 'off' a bit. I put them down the toilet, as my Mum used to do.
Long story from the Council, but the lady was very helpful. I need at least 3 bins in the kitchen.

Same here, I don't really recognise the concept of "food waste" except for kitchen waste which goes in the compost. Scraps of meat fat, burnt toast etc go out for the birds. Almost everything else gets eaten. The only non-compostable waste is meat bones.

I agree Izabella
I compost all uncooked vegetable matter and apart from the odd crust of bread or bit of cheese that I’ve forgotten about, there isn’t any waste.

We have communal bins. Dark green general rubbish, light green recycle such as papers, cardboard, glass, plastics including bottles, then a smaller blue one for food waste. Any small electricals like toasters leave beside the bins on recycle days, same with clothes bag in open plastic bag and leave by bin. The problem comes when one tenant puts a plastic carrier in the recycling bin (not allowed) and the men leave the bin with a big yellow sticker on!
By the way Izabella the food waste is things like scrapings off the plates, peelings, eggshells etc in other words anything that can rot down for compost.

I am confused regarding the food waste. We compost all peelings and trimmings. What other sort is there (genuine question)

I'm ok with our recycling but when I go to look after my grandchildren (about 40 miles away), I am totally confused by the system there. Maybe I should google the recycling in that area because my daughter never stands still long enough to explain it to me so I just leave all the rubbish piled in a corner for her to sort when she has a minute. All I know is that food waste goes into a disgusting little bag to be collected separately.

I'm going to the council offices this morning to ask for leaflets, plus a few questions. There's quite a bit about it online, in alphabetical order, but I don't want to have to go online every time I throw something away.
Good replies, it's a bit clearer for me now.

I’m in Northumberland too and my only gripe is that they don’t recycle much plastic. I’d be very happy to wash out yoghurt containers, plastic food trays etc but the only plastic we can put it in the recycling bin is plastic bottles.
I’ve just heard an item on the news expressing shock and horror that 172 local authorities charge to remove garden waste, rather than funding it from council tax.
Northumberland is one of them and I’m more than happy to pay £26 a year to have my garden waste taken away. I don’t see why people who are lucky enough to have a big garden should be subsidised by those who don’t, and it saves me time and money in that I don’t have to take it to the tip myself.
Northumberland actually recycles its garden waste and sells the compost, creating a revenue stream for the council.

Hildajenni, I think you're right. Where I live is a long way from recycling centres for certain materials and the cost, both financially and environmentally, of transporting them outweighs the benefits. Things have improved in recent years though.

We have to recycle glass ourselves but I quite enjoy that, it's rather satisfying.

But wouldn't it be better to use the same type of bags/bins/boxes?
Our CC has changed the bags used for garden waste - so what happens to the polypropylene bags we used previously? Hundreds, if not thousands, of redundant bags. They changed from plastic boxes for recycling to plastic bags.

Plastic, plastic, plastic - to recycle plastic.

Bonkers.

Why should there be general rules? You only live in one place at a time, so the only rules you need to consider are the relevant ones for that area.

Different areas have different budgets and priorities; also, what local authorities will accept and how they deal with it are dictated by local facilities and conditions. They pass the materials (e.g. paper) on to a processor, but not all contractors work in the same way - some will accept cardboard or shredded paper, some won't. Local geography also makes a difference to the feasibility of collecting everything from the kerbside. Some authorities decide to make a charge for taking garden waste, others don't - it's up to each council to decide their priorities, just as they do for car parking or library provision.

It would be really silly to impose one scheme on the whole country. What works well in London may not suit rural Cornwall or the Outer Hebrides.

But in the plus side you’ll have a grear collection of recycling leaflets.
No, they'll have gone into the recycling the day after

Why aren't there any general rules?
That is a question that DH and I have asked many times Fennel.
I can understand different countries having different arrangements - but every area, every council in the UK seems to differ from each other!

And as to garden rubbish - if only we were allowed to burn it as in France. Ooh er - sharp intake of breath

What we need is 'Joined-Up Recycling'.

We live in Northumberland. I cannot put jars and bottles into my recycling bin. I have to use the bottle/glass bin in the car park at Sainsbury's. The only things that go into our recycling bin are, paper, cardboard, cans and plastic bottles.
When DD lived in Argyll she could put plastic of all sorts in her bin, even cling film. She also had a little food waste bin and was supplied with the bags to put in it. Some authorities are much better than others. I suppose it has to do with how close the recycling processing plants are.