Do you clean your recycling before putting in the bin?

[Frosty66612]

Bit of a boring one but do you rinse out tins and yogurt pots etc before putting them in the recycling bin, or do you just put them straight in?

Just checked my local council’s recycling do’s and don’t’s and they are very clear that recycling MUST be cleaned beforehand or it risks contaminating the whole lot and being sent to landfill. Quite a few things on their list that shouldn’t be recycled that I didn’t realise too such as:
Takeaway pizza boxes
Pringles tubes
Corks from bottles of wine
Black plastic
Blister packs (medicine)
Gravy granule or hot chocoate cans (often lined with an unrecyclable metal coating)
Plastic straws
Toothpaste tubes
Wrapping paper

I think wrapping paper is a problem if it has metallic or plastic bits, but some wrapping paper is fine.

@claraschu also any glittery ones aren’t allowed

Good point!

Yes of course. It is absolutely gross not to.

@bluebug45 I have put my house no on my other bins but not my recyling one as I am living in hope somehow I might get my old clean one back -I know delusional thinking Think I will go with my plan of getting a new one or maybe getting DH to powerhose the manky onr

Always wash prior to binning.

" I am living in hope somehow I might get my old clean one back"

prowl round at dusk to see if yours is at the kerbside somewhere.

If you spot it, go back and drag it away after dark.

No because one of DH sites is the local tip and he said the majority of recyling is put straight with the normal rubbish and burnt. They don't even attempt to sort it.

@ScreamingValenta If you don't wash it thoroughly then the entire lorry load of recycling is classed as contaminated and thrown into landfill!!!!!! Don't be so lazy!!!!!!!

But that’s rubbish Audi that simply can’t be the case. Nothing would EVER be receycled.

Are you seriously telling me local councils are throwing all the recycling into landfill and basically keeping up a pretence that they’re able to recycle any of it? Sending out special tricks and crews then consistently diverting them all back to landfill?

Not everyone cleans their recycling and it’s ridiculous to claim that it’s been a possibility that everyone could!

Frosty

I am such a recycling geek I knew all that only because I did loads of reading in this last year

If we really want to be sustainable more is needed

@LavendarGreen sorry did not make myself very clear. I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread about not knowing which plastics they can recycle. If you look at the bottom of the plastic tub there is usually a triangle symbol with some letters and numbers. PET 1 and HDTP 2 can usually be recycled but it depends on your local authority. Hope that makes a bit more sense.

Ours only gets collected every other week. If i didnt my bin would be a fly farm

From the Recycling Week website.

Scrape all the solid food scraps out of jars and cans and then put them in the recycling bin. If you're concerned about having left over food in the bin you can lightly rinse out your jars and cans. Using left over washing up or rinsing water is best as there's no point wasting good water just to wash recycling.

Yes I do otherwise it won't be recycled and it stinks if like me you only have a collection every two weeks.

swish it under the tap, so the recycling bin is not dirty or stinks. Kinda less work for me this way.

We have one of those sink units which is made up of a small sink and a standard size one. We leave stuff standing in the small sink and when we wash our hands the grey water rinses some of the residue off, then when we have finished washing the dishes we give the recycling a quick sloosh in the water.

Yes, otherwise we would be woken by foxes playing ‘ throw the tin into the air, then drag it up and down the road for halfan hour’ .