Recycling

One person's trash is another person's treasure, right? Recycling is the process of collecting, processing and repurposing materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill and giving them a fresh lease on life as new products.

Recycling is different from upcycling or simply reusing. Recycling specifically is when a material is broken down and repurposed into something else. On the other hand, upcycling is taking the item and reusing it in a new way or in its original function. Both are fantastic ways to be resourceful, reduce waste and benefit the environment.

The recycling bin is for materials that can be recycled including paper, plastics bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, cardboard and aluminium/steel cans.

The more we recycle, the less waste that ends up in landfill, our communities, oceans, and everywhere else you find unwanted rubbish.

Recycling reduces the need for raw materials and helps preserve natural resources like timber, water and minerals.

The more raw material we plunder, the more greenhouse gas emissions we create and pollution we cause. Recycling helps to limit pollution by reducing the need to use such materials, which in turn saves energy and benefits the environment.

It also helps create more jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries, it increases economic security through leveraging domestic materials, and supports the development of domestic production.

It starts with you collecting things like plastic bottles, cardboard, paper and tin cans so you can tip them into your yellow Recycling bin.

This bin is then collected as part of the fortnightly recycling collection service and taken to a facility where it is sorted into different types of materials.

Once sorted, the recyclables can be processed using a variety of different techniques to create raw materials again - ready to be made into new products.

Please DON’T put your recycling into plastic bags - these bags are made of soft plastics which aren’t recyclable and it causes problems when sorting your waste.

Keep your recycling loose in the yellow bin to make it easy to sort and simpler to turn into something new!