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?

Nasty stutter you have there bbbbbarksdale

Thought I'd recycle my post

Recycling & refuse workers I will always bear in mind what my recycling will be like to deal with at the other end.

GreatAuntMary fantastic post! Most of us want to do what we can to minimise our impact on the planet but I sometimes get the feeling that a lot of the eco stuff that's pushed onto consumers is a sort of busy-work to distract us from the main problems, which are IMO:

1. Manufacturers need to be much more responsible
2. We all need to buy less shit

Both of these would get in the way of capitalism so it's much better to carry on encouraging everyone to buy a mountain of shit and allow manufacturers to overpackage because it makes the shit attractive, and then shame consumers for not washing the packaging to the required standard.

We apparently have a state-of-the-art reycling centre in my borough but I have heard a rumour that our own recycling goes to landfill because it's more profitable to bring in recycling from wealthier boroughs. I might see if there have been any FOI's.

Peanut butter - I know from experience that end-of-the-washing-up water is not hot enough to shift it. I also know that if left overnight to soak it just cools and solidifies again. I might try some of the other suggestions. When I do manage to clean the jar I always worry about what it's doing to the drains. I'm going to completely not worry about peanut butter jars because we get through about 2 a year. I think they should follow the example of Nutella with the glass-shaped jars. They're much easier to get the last bits out and get clean and you end up with a nice glass.

If people are too lazy to recycle (including not rinsing), they should have the decency not to buy packaged food. No better than dog owners that don't clear up their animals' mess.

There's actually a lot of controversy about environmental charities and the things that they're "allowed" to target without upsetting big businesses.

The main issue is meat and dairy. Recycling and driving cars are an absolute drop in the ocean compared to the waste produced by the meat and dairy industries, but nobody wants to be the person to tell people to eat less meat or to dent profits of such powerful companies.

If people are too lazy to recycle (including not rinsing), they should have the decency not to buy packaged food. No better than dog owners that don't clear up their animals' mess.

If the lefty tossers that run our local council want rubbish sorted for recycling then they can bloody well do it themselves. Otherwise they can go fuck themselves. Hard.

Lots of good sense from Barkdale and Plenty.
Not that it's a waste of time to recycle, but reducing and reusing would have far more impact and there is very little effort put into urging us to do those things.
Aviation fuel is another one. If you are worried about the environment but you go on long haul holidays you probably need to focus on that rather than the odd peanut butter jar.

"If the lefty tossers that run our local council want rubbish sorted for recycling then they can bloody well do it themselves. Otherwise they can go fuck themselves. Hard."

It's not a left/right issue, it's about exercising responsibility. By your logic you might as well just throw all your trash on the street and let the council clear it up.

Bit baffled by so many people not knowing about need to rinse things - clearly your councils don't have the Tags Of Shame for contaminated bins...

Also, re: peanut (& proper!nut) butter jars, I've always used cold water + shake (sometimes inc a soak...) method on basis it's a protein. Works v well. Have considered whether or not to try adding salt to mix to see if it makes it easier, but never remember to somehow... (Saline solution is very good at getting blood out of things, so it MIGHT work for PB, no?)

GreatAuntMary In the UK, the main driver of policy is diversion from landfill - quite bluntly we don't have space for more holes in the ground in urban areas or the South East. The value of recyclates has swung wildly over the last decade which affects decisions on what to do with it - no point having hand-sorted high quality glass if there's only really a market for less pure cheaper mixed glass for use in sewage filtration, for example. Then there's how many bins you can fit in front of houses locally, how much you'd need to pay in diesel for rural collections...
Selling recyclate shouldn't be a problem any more than selling potatoes - someone else may be in a better position to process the stuff into new steel or French fries.

It's mostly cows that impact the environment, particularly when raised in American style feed lots. Grass-fed animals aren't nearly such an issue, certainly when you look at impact per unit of protein, but it all depends on the detail.

Peanut butter jars - put hot water, scrub out as much with a washing up brush. Then use an old tooth brush for the finer bits. Rinse again (with brown water). A little patience and it is done.

Completely new to this site but completely shocked! Wash what needs to be washed before sticking it in the recycling! How lazy are you that you can't swill out a milk carton or tin! I bet you're the sort that suddenly complains about the influx of rats and mice when the rubbish pick up is late!
The 'excuse' of you're saving water! I bet you were the neighbours who put their unwrapped, used sanitary ware and nappies in my bin when I lived in a flat! My mind boggles.

Another consideration for those who don't recycle may be; as landfill becomes more expensive due to scarcity of places to dump rubbish so the weight of each households bin will become a chargeable item.
Unless the consumers press the companies who overpackage their products, the endless waste stream will continue to grow.

I put the recycling through the dishwasher. Tins, glass and plastics sit on top of other stuff. I do it because it is no big deal and out of consideration for the employees who do a vital job.

Peanut butter jars are done by hand.

This topic amazes me every time it comes up on MN, with the number of people who don't rinse "to save water", who have never considered using the waste water at the end of the important washing up. You don't have to use water straight from the tap!

Sorry but ARF at the idea I'm going to clean out my used peanut butter jars with a toothbrush. Gawd's sake.

"Important washing up"? What is this concept?
If it can't go in the dishwasher, I don't own it.

Though I have enough water from soaking pans that rinsing things isn't an issue (the dishbrush gets peanut butter jars clean enough - they use the word 'rinse' rather than 'clean' or 'scrub' to make clear they don't have to be pristine, just without clumps of food that both smell and encourage rats).

Our council asks for you to rinse.
I have a dishwasher, but have never put recycling in there.
Like pp , I rinse milk bottles etc. Tins get filled with cold water as soon as they are emptied of contents, then the water is swilled around. If you do it quickly enough, its easy.. Peanut butter jars are filled with hot washing up water at the beginning , and left to soak then washed out at the end. Virtually every glass jar I have is used by me for home made jam.chutney/pickles, so they get soaked then cleaned out properly in the washing up bowl, ready for re use. Olive and vegetable oil bottles are cleaned with the end of the washing up water.

I take the paper labels off tins (& anything else they come off easily) as well & put them in the paper sack.

Do I get extra brownie points for that?

I've never even thought of rinsing. Stuff just gets chucked into the relevant bin in the kitchen then transferred to wheelie bins when full. Don't get me started on the tacky green caddy we're supposed to put food waste into!

I always rinse out recyclable containers - it wouldn't occur to me not to. And the council won't take the recyclables bag if the contents aren't clean.

My aunt never washed/rinsed any of her recycling. Until the flies moved into the recycling bin, lying hundreds of eggs in the dirty cat food tins, which obviously turned into maggots crawling around the bin. We had always told her we thought it was grim not to rinse stuff out, but she thought she was better than that. Quite funny that she had to deal with the maggots bin. I feel really sorry for workers in the recycling factories. As if anyone grows up thinking that's what they want to do with their lives, like a lot of other unskilled, low paid work, you do it becasue it's a job and pays a wage I imagine, there can't be a great lot of job satisfaction in it.

5 mins of my time a day, to make their jobs slightly more bare able is worth it to me.

Mostlyslowly - yes before too long households are likely to be charged for waste. We already have to pay for our brown bin for garden waste, which I think is fair enough as lots of people around here don't have gardens so there's no reason their council tax should be funding my brown bin collection.
However my the same logic I am a bit annoyed that my council tax is funding all the lazy people who can't be bothered to recycle or wash their recycling. Landfill is a big cost to local authorities now. I recycle, have a compost bin, pay for a garden waste bin, take useable items to the charity shop / Freecycle it, take small electricals to the tip etc. So our black wheely bin is often only half full, for a family of 5. It does annoy me when you see people's black bins full of stuff that could perfectly well be recycled or go to a charity shop.

^"Important washing up"? What is this concept?
If it can't go in the dishwasher, I don't own it.^

"Important washing up" comprises items of cutlery, crockery and other cookery implements which cannot be put off until "later" because you will need them shortly in order to prepare your very next meal.

I put all the recycling where it should be, in the correct bins etc, but I don't wash it all out. I am not a bin man. I've never had a tag of shame.