To ask if you recycle your plastics?

[motherofthelittlescreamingone]

I'm not asking about the yoghurt pots that all councils take that don't take much effort to recycle, but about the cellophane wrapper packets that are marked "recycle with bags at big supermarkets" or similar. I only became aware that they were recyclable over lockdown when I was at home and life slowed down a bit and on maternity leave subsequently I made an effort to collect it all and put it in the bin at the supermarket.

The relevant bin is really very small in my nearest supermarket and I just can't believe that many people do recycle there.

I guess I wondered how many people are like I was and just were unaware that this existed, or have I been massively behind the curve?

I don't, because I never visit a supermarket. (Our food is delivered, or we use local shops i.e. butcher). Our council plastic recycling service doesn't take these things, so they go in the bin.

I do, we have a bin especially for them and I drop the off at tesco once a week when I go shopping.

Bump!!

@IHateWasps

That's amazing and would be idea - whereabouts are you?

Our coop does but the bin is often full…

pets at home take cat food sachets.

council just started taking most hard plastic with the kerbside recycling. They’ve gone to fortnightly collections too which is causing a lot of annoyance to many.

No. If the council can't collect it as part of their recycling scheme (and we have two wheely bins, three boxes plus a bag for paper) I am not taking it to a supermarket.

I used to recycle tetra packs, but the scheme closed.

We do, as soon as Tesco started offering it we started with it. I collect it all for a week or 2 in a bin bag and then take it in. Tesco usually has a big cage for it and I can usually find space.

Same here.

I’ve started recently, I take a big bag when I pass Tescos which has a big cage to put it in . I can’t believe how this has reduced my general waste , there’s so little now that I’ve hung a collection bag for soft plastics inside the general waste bin , otherwise it sits there almost empty! Strangely satisfying😂

I do - and it's now part of my 'routine'. Just as the lion I use a bread bag, turned inside out to shake out any crumbs and hang it on a hook. I take mine to the local Co-op just down the road. It's quite remarkable how much I've reduced black-bag landfill waste by doing it.

My routine now also incudes cleaning off the dirtier bits and hanging it to dry over some used tea towels.

More and more supermarkets are providing this service.

No. I don’t recycle anything. It all just goes in the big bin.

I do, I take mine to Tesco they have 3 massive cages you can put them in.

I just pop all the papers and plastics into the dry recycling where they can re-direct or dump as necessary. My understanding is that a lot of it's not repurposed anyway, and much of it sold off and ultimately dumped on a beach somewhere overseas. I'm not saying that's ok, just that it's pointless stressing about it because I don’t think the system is all it's cracked up to be.

i recycle my soft plastics. But, i normally shop in Lidl, which doesn't have recycling facilities, so i have to make a trip to the supermarkets that do. it can be a faff at times, but i do it because it's important.

i do think Local Authorities should collect it along with other plastic though.

I can't understand why the council don't collect these. They also don't collect milk cartons/tetrapaks here either which is really annoying as we go through 4-5 a week and I don't have the time to do trips to the nearest recycling point.

I do but I'm not in the UK and where I am all plastics can go in the recycle bin so it isn't a faff to do it.

I take ours to the Co Op which is three minutes walk away. It’s really reduced the amount of rubbish in our household waste bin.

It seems that we’re able to recycle less with the kerbside collections now. We’ve had bags supplied for card and paper but they’re not big enough to hold a fortnight’s waste, the council said that households would be able to ask for an extra one but six months on they still don’t have any available and the bin men won’t take any excess left in other bags or loose.
We’re advised to take anything that won’t fit into the bag to the tip 🙄 That’s where we’re told to take Tetra Paks too.

No it's a right pain. We do glass bottles and tetrapak but that's it.

Councils should take it all!

I work at a Co Op and take the bin bags we use for soft plastic home. Ever since I started its amazing how little of our waste goes to landfill now.

I really think if we have sold (or gave away) the bin bags people would recycle more as it's easier than taking individual bits of recycling to the store.

I’m in a town that has won the title of “most virtuous recycling town in Italy”.
They’ve decided to make things even more difficult for us by:

1. Making the roadside glass and paper bins accessible only with a chip and pin card. They’re now known as “treasure chests”!
2. Giving families QR coded council binbags for plastics, collected every 2 weeks. Which means washing, drying, reducing and storing the stuff at home all that time. Yuk.
3. Supplying each family with a non-recyclables caddy that has to be put out and taken in at a fixed time and day.

Your waste production will be tracked and your council tax charged accordingly.

Well blow me if it isn’t the Rubbish Police.

Yes, always.

We are really lucky, still have a weekly bin collection and can put as much recycling in mixed bags out as we want

I use a food caddy and take the plastics described in OP to the supermarket

I was a bit slow realising that soft plastics could be recycled but have been doing it for about 6 months and take it to the supermarket every week when I do my normal shop. It's probably cut my non recyclable waste in half.

The only problem is trying to get my husband to differentiate between the kitkat wrappers that are paper and foil (which go into one recycling bin) and the plastic ones (which go in another)!

I recently read an article about recycling any types of plastic, and how we send most of it abroad to poorer countries who don't actually recycle it and so it causes issues in their countries and often ends up in the oceans.

Ive been researching since and this appears true (but I'm still looking into it).

So I am considering putting all plastic in my black bin. This means it'll go to a properly managed UK landfill site with plenty of safeguards in place, with the hope of some future science being able to process it. It honestly feels like the more responsible option!