Residents in Bath and North East Somerset are being asked to make recycling one of their New Year resolutions and reduce the amount of general household rubbish.
Most people recycle paper, bottles and cans but according to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) only 12 per cent of households are recycling all they can.
More than half of us are still not regularly recycling everything we can from the bathroom and the average UK household only recycles 270 of the 480 plastic bottles they use each year.
Here are Bath and North East Somerset Council’s top ten list of items you might not realise you can recycle:
With your tins and cans and plastic you can recycle …
- Aerosols – empty deodorant and hairspray, furniture polish and air fresheners
- Biscuit tins – metal and plastic biscuit tins can be included with your plastic and cans.
- Cleaning bottles – including bleach bottles and bathroom cleaners
- Liquid soap bottles – empty, rinse and remove pump dispenser (throw that in the bin)
- Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner bottles – rinse, squash and replace the lids
With your cardboard you can recycle …
- Empty tissue boxes – make sure they are flattened
- Empty boxes for dishwasher tablets and washing powder – make sure they are flattened
With your small electrical items you can recycle …
- Broken electric toys – if they’re small enough to fit inside a plastic carrier bag you can put them out next to your green box for recycling
With your clothes and shoes you can recycle …
- Bedding – sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers (no pillows, duvets or other stuffed items). Please put in a labelled bag to keep dry
- Clothing accessories – including hats, bags, belts and jewellery
You can also line your food waste caddy or bin with an everyday carrier bag (such as a plastic carrier bag, bread bag or vegetable bag) so if you haven’t already started recycling your food waste make sure you order your food bin now – it’s clean and easy to use.
Cllr Bob Goodman (Conservative, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Development & Neighbourhoods said: “If we all recycle as much as we possibly can that means we need to throw away less in our rubbish bins.
“Please make sure that you only put your rubbish in your wheeled bin or re-usable rubbish bag – do not put out any extra rubbish.”
To find out more about Bath & North East Somerset Council’s recycling and rubbish collections, go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/wasteservices or contact Council Connect ([email protected] / 01225 39 40 41).
