I don’t want to wash up chicken packets and jars of mayonnaise!!

[ChristmasBaby2026]

My council like many have recently changed our recycling. We now have:

• a bin for paper and card
• a bin for “mixed recycling”
• the food bin
• the black bin
• the garden bin (which I have to pay extra for 😡)

The only substantial change other than the number of bins to put things in is they will now collect glass whereas we previously had to go to the bottle bank.

But it now means they are now only collecting our black bin once every THREE weeks (and currently not for 4 because the new system has stupidly started on a recycling week).

How are families supposed to only have rubbish collected once every three weeks? There is simply no way.

I do recycle but I have always drawn the line at washing up gross things like packets of mince and jars of mayonnaise. But apparently the council have decided people have nothing better to do. I wouldn’t resent it so much if I thought it was actually making a difference but my landfill mayonnaise jar is not the main problem here!

Well I suppose that answers my question. If somebody wants to assert something it's for them to provide the proof.

Most reasonable-sized supermarkets have a used battery drop off bin. It tends to be near the end of aisle where they sell new batteries.

Thanks, as I said I haven't read the whole thread. I have seen your post now

Cool - does that apply to the ‘no point in recycling/fuck the planet/I don’t have time to wash things’ crew as well?

My local waste plant have said we dont need to rinse our recyclables, so yes, im very fine to admit i cant be bothered to do something i dont have to do 😂

You know that areas differ? And that people asserting something as fact may be wrong or in fact just going by their own area.

Like it said, it’s your descendants who will be dealing with any fallout

I agree, that's barking.

I do this - eat all the food, rinse the packaging either under a running tap or in some water I've got for some reason (not washing up water, because I rarely wash up).

Put it in the recycling.

I'm not sure I understand all this stuff about scraping out food etc, surely you eat it?

Well they don't need to provide any proof of their own attitudes do they?

When they confidently assert it’s unnecessary, then yes. Or do you only expect peer reviewed studies of things you disagree with?

Every three weeks dues seem a long time so I agree with you there. Here they collect household and paper/card one week, glass and plastic the alternate week, food every week and waste (a paid for service) every week. It works.
As for washing packets - they don’t have to be sterile but yes clean. A mince packet only needs rinsing surely?

I am absolutely aware areas differ. Youre the one informing people that "according to this, you have to wash it"

"This" being a link to one county's recycling site

Barnsley council asks for them to be rinsed out.

Do it/dont do it. But enjoy the next generations moaning about how this generation has fucked their planet up 😬

Dude you seem weirdly upset that I dont have to wash my jars.

Im also not wasting kitchen roll wiping Nutella jars and such like out, bonus 😇

You win, I'm out.

I do recycle and I do wash my jars etc. I was simply asking for some evidence that a whole bin lorry's recycling would be sent to landfill if there were any dirty items.

We’re not going to help the planet by more fat and oil being pointlessly rinsed into the sewers, or more use of detergent, or more use of clean water to do all this.

As an aside, I think it’s scandalous that any council doesn’t collect household waste weekly. Garden waste maybe fortnightly, but recycling and general waste should be weekly.

I don't get the handwringing. I just finished off a pack of feta making lunch, I rinsed it out at the same time as I washed up the cooking things. Took a few seconds at most.

Now this doesn't go in the recycling but given it is currently 28 degrees in my kitchen, I felt everyone's life would be nicer if a stinking cheese wrapper wasn't sat in the bin for a couple of days.

Imagine? "Everyone STOP WORKING!! Im sorry to report this jam jar has not been rinsed with collected condensation from Jeans conservatory, take this 20 tonnes of waste off the sorter now, its all ruined. Yep, even the stuff thats already gone to the mechanical separator, get that back now, off to landfill"

This, packaging and cans gets a rinse under the tap (some cans might need to soak a bit), jars and milk bottles go in the dishwasher with everything else after an initial rinse.

For small batteries, there are a lot of recycling bins inside shops. Near us we usually go to TG Jones (ex. WH Smith).

A quick Google shows me several sources that say the whole load can be rejected. If some councils are saying it doesn't matter then in those areas it doesn't but in others it does. I know in my country it does matter, and the waste management company in my area makes it clear that if you can't clean a piece of recycling for some reason then it should be put in general waste instead, not recycling.

Oh jeez let’s not get started on kitchen roll 🤦‍♀️

Exactly! But actually encouraging to read other people are as astonished as I was.

Managed to recycle just fine in a 4th floor flat - imagine walking all the way down several flights of stairs to a communal bin if you* can't be bothered to walk to your driveway to recycle!

*Not the commenter I'm replying to, obviously

I used to wash out mayo jars and recycle at the local bottle bank but now I put them in general waste. Reason being that the extra fat caused drain blockages over time. I had to have my drains physically cleared of growing fat bergs that narrowed the pipes. You are not supposed to even pour milk down the drain.

I have to take all my recycling to the supermarket 3km away! No recycling collection for detached houses where I am so everything has to be taken to the big communal recycling bins in the supermarket car park. Was so much easier when I lived in a block of flats and we had communal bins! But still no real difficulty, easy enough to chuck some bags of recycling in the boot when I go do the food shop.