To not wash out recyclable containers??

[DisgruntledGoat]

I think it's totally unnecessary to blast containers with water that are going to be cleaned and recycled anyway. My DH sometimes puts them through the dishwasher which drives me nuts. They flip the right way up and fill with dirty water and when you pull the rack out they spill water everywhere covering the clean stuff with the dirty water that's trapped inside. Plus you wouldn't wash out non recyclables to put them in the general bin?! AIBU or does anyone else put dirty recyclables straight into their recycling bins?

Disgruntled Contentious or not, it's true - I'm not 100% sure whether we have a recycling bin

Omg. I always rinse all recyclable containers out. If you don't, there will be mouldering food residue on them which would mean the whole load is contaminated and has to be chucked. It's not tricky or expensive to rinse them. Why wouldn't you?

I don't rinse, we have a dish washer and very rarely have a bowl of washing up water on the go and I'm not filling one to wash the recycling, we're on a meter.
I do reuse jam jars so they end up in the dishwasher.

Of course I rinse them out! Yuk! Don't people get maggots and flies in their bins? We occasionally get ants in the bins if something sweet hasn't been cleaned properly. Also it's nicer for the refuse workers if your bin doesn't reek to high heaven.
It literally takes a minute to swill out cartons.
For tomato tins, I add a bit of hot water, swill around and add it to the sauce/stew so that none is wasted.
I do put greasy containers in the dishwasher, there is always a little gap you can squeeze it into. Considering that most plastics are made from fossil fuels like gas, oil and coal I am surprised so many people think of it as 'rubbish'. As others have said, water can be cleaned and reused. Dishwashers have been shown to be just as if not more environmentally friendly than handwashing.
I have a feeling in a few hundred years when all the fossil fuels have run out we'll be digging up all these landfilled greasy takeaway containers!

All my small recycling goes in the dishwasher with the dishes as I rarely fill the sink, it is a very carefully calculated equation that running the dishwasher is cheaper than (oil) heating the water for dishes in our house, so I get to dodge the dishes on grounds of economy !

We have extensive rainwater collection tanks which get used for most non-drinking water stuff - I can't take the credit for them, they were put in over 100 years ago - so I don't mind sparing a bit of tap to rinse the milk cartons. It needs doing.

I am the worst housekeeper ever. I can see dirt on my kitchen floor, the sitting room is messy with unwashed mugs from last night on the coffee table and there is a huge pile of clean laundry next to the washing machine. But I ALWAYS rinse my recycling, and am feeling genuinely shocked at the thought that some people with clean and tidy houses don't bother. I soak marmite and peanut butter jars overnight in hot soapy water.

YANBU. The only thing that goes in our recycling bin is broken down cardboard, everything else goes in general waste

I just wash them up with dishes - I don't see how that's hard really.
It's nice the recycling bin doesn't smell - unlike the normal bin

I have always washed all recyclable food containers!

When our Council first started collecting recyclables, we received a leaflet which expressly stated that the recycling bin MUST be a 'clean bin' with NO food residues, so it followed that containers needed to be rinsed or washed prior to putting in the bin.

The leaflet stated that any bins deemed to be contaminated would not be emptied and if contaminated material was mixed in with clean material, the entire consignment would be deemed unfit for recycling and would instead go to landfill.

That was about 20+ years ago and nothing has changed since then,as far as I am aware.

I've just checked our Council website. This is cut and pasted from the recycling information.

Put all your clean, dry and loose recycling in your black bin(s) – this includes:
newspapers, magazines and cardboard
telephone directories
clean food and drink cans and tins
clean plastic bottles (no lids)
domestic empty aerosol cans without lids (no 'hazardous' symbols)

As someone whose collected and worked for a recycling company for many years it's a horrible horrible unsanitary disease ridden job when From vehicle and uniform and workspace point of view it's horrendous. Also it attracts rats and other unpleasant from your house all the way through the process. Yes it's takes a second to wash it out but it's better all round if you do so. Perhaps dishwasher maybe a little OTT but it's greatly appreciated. It's a nasty job collecting nasty materials it doesn't need to be made worse or more dirty by lack of rinse your end.
Thank you, every recycling employee ever.

If your ever In doubt think rainy day with a box with no lid and half empty cans of week old cat food. Then remember there's holes at the bottom of the box. Worst day ever for my boots.

Please tell me how you have a 'weekly' dishwasher load!?? With two dc I have to run it almost daily!!

Peanut butter jar, just put the end of the kettle in after you've made a cup of tea, or end of washing up water, leave to soak over night, shake it up then quick scrub with the washing up brush...I rinse or wash in the sink or dishwasher everything which is being recycled. If you don't there is no point saving it to be recycled at all - and it doesn't smell!

Nutella jars that can be used as glasses afterwards are the best. Why can't more companies do that?
Recycling is all very well but reusing is so, so much more sensible. I can't help thinking far too much attention than is rational gets paid to the 'recycle' part of the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' triad.

I just don't get why some people don't bother rinsing or some don't even bother recycling. FFS it's really easy. I think they kid themselves that they're much too busy and important, when actually they're too lazy and selfish.

Everything we wash goes in the dishwasher save our cast iron pans and that includes anything glass that will be recycled and milk bottles back to the milkman. Plastic bottles and tins get rinsed when they've been emptied. We hardly ever use kitchen roll - I mainly use tea towels & dish cloths which go into the wash.

In Italy the recycling is hard core. Everything is separate and you get fined if you don't adhere to the rules. I was so scared I put my general rubbish in the local bin for fear I had not recylced something. Think more education and slightly more hardline approcah needed here

Haven't read the whole thread.

Yes, we do rinse out (but not to dishwasher standard) our recycling. Our bin stays clean and fragrant as a result and I am sure it is much more pleasant for the people who work at recycling plants.

Top tip for Nutella lovers: when you are getting close to the end of the jar, add a scoop of vanilla icecream and eat from the jar with a teaspoon. The icecream melts and does a great job of turning the nutella into a sort of chocolatey sauce.

OP:
You should wash them. Obv.

I dread to imagine how much your recycling stinks unless you do clean the stuff?

By the time the mould sets in are they recyclable - would imagine not. Quick rinse will help

I rinse mine. DH doesn't rinse stuff - I do it if I notice.

He reckons there's no need. I reckon it's less smelly & attractive to vermin & less unpleasant fro the guys on the wagon - his reaction they wear overalls

jars and tins in the dishwasher.
other plasticky shite rinsed, and then agonised over about recycle or rubbish
glass bottles get swooshed under the tap
milk cartons also swooshed ...but sometimes I use them to light the fire.

I think they kid themselves that they're much too busy and important, when actually they're too lazy and selfish.

Not at all, I just couldn't give a shit about it.