Do you clean out your recycling?

[MarineBlue33]

My new cleaner said that I am the only person who does this. Surely not?
I rinse it out, wash with soap, let it dry and then put it in the recycling bin.
Wondering what others do...

Quick swirl around in the bowl after the washing up, jars get water in, lid on and a shake, yogurt pots, tubs and tins get a swirl round to remind be obvious debris.

Nope I don't wash anything. Didn't know you were supposed to. I've also never seen anything on the recycling calendar flyer for example telling me it needs to be washed? I've just checked the council website too and that doesn't ask for it either it just says how to sort it all into what bin.

I just rinse it straight away and only use washing up liquid if it’s something oily that needs it to break down the residue eg margarine tub. For tins it rarely needs that. Actually I hate washing up so I have been known to put things like margarine tubs in the dishwasher instead of washing them by hand

@linerforlife our council website says the below and I think the leaflets have mentioned it as well so maybe some councils figure it goes without saying that food residue isn’t recyclable alongside plastic/metal etc?

Myth 3: It doesn't matter if I put the wrong, wet or dirty things in my recycling as it all gets sorted out anyway
Not true – if you put the wrong things in your recycling you risk contaminating the whole load and reduce quality of recyclable materials. re3 Material Recycling Facility sort your recycling using range of mechanical and manual processes but if items are contaminated i.e. with food residue or if they are wet they are unable to successfully go through the process.

This is what our council have on their website:

Remember to remove film lids and rinse and squash all plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays, food tins and cans where possible, and rinse out all glass bottles and jars before placing them in your bin.

Yes, of course, the bin would be minging otherwise!

Ours goes in the washing up bowl at the end, sits on the drainer to dry then in a recycling bin under the sink. When that's full it all goes in the wheelie bin.

I don't dry it but yes I wash it out . I've been known to put jars in the dishwasher

Imagine the smell from the bin if you didn't rinse it out milk bottles and bean cans mixed

Yes I always rinse mine out

Always washed, I don't think our council will take it if not clean. Our recycling bins do not have lids so I can just imagine the flies if not stuff not washed.

So glad others agree and hopefully this thread will encourage others to clean out their recycling.

There was a similar thread about this last year, and it seems that a significant number of posters didn't and were proud of the fact.

TBH, I thought most councils prefered us to wash and squash. It must get really stinky in summer if you don't.

Also don't put the lids back on anything, try and squash down as much as possible

Usually for things that are messy or held food, though I still haven't figured out how to clean out peanut butter, jam, and similar sticky messes well so they've been going with the rubbish. If anyone has tips on that (no dishwasher here) to help recycling more, it would be appreciated!

Peanut butter jars are horrible to clean, aren't they. Some jars are designed to trap food. So much waste - grr.

I've always washed recycling. Before I met my husband he never did because he thought we didn't need to. He took some educating but he does do it now. Most of the time anyway. I have been known to take things out of the recycling that I've noticed haven't been washed.

I just leave things in a pile by the sink and wash them the next time I do the washing up.

Usually for things that are messy or held food, though I still haven't figured out how to clean out peanut butter, jam, and similar sticky messes well so they've been going with the rubbish.

With things like jam and mayonnaise I leave to soak for a bit, then put lid on and shake. Peanut butter is a different kettle of fish however.

Peanut butter, jam etc I just leave to soak after doing the rest of the washing up. Then put the lid on and give it a good shake!

Glad I'm not alone with the peanut butter jars!

With things like jam and mayonnaise I leave to soak for a bit, then put lid on and shake.

I did that before, but then my kids started to fill and shake after doing the washing up -- and then apparently walk around with them and leave the jars in the weirdest places that we wouldn't find for ages - the end result was so gross, I ended up not buying jam for a while.

@RampantIvy

Peanut butter jars are horrible to clean, aren't they. Some jars are designed to trap food. So much waste - grr.

You need a dog!

Of course food has to be washed out.

I don't know how factual it is but I thought it could contaminate the whole load of recycling if food gets left and transferred to the lorry ?

However, from a practical pov, I don't want to be attracting ants, flies, wasps, and even rats and foxes etc by leaving food on the recycling.

I suspect you are right and your cleaner's other clients just assume she is cleaning stuff before putting it out.

I give things a quick rinse so that the bin isn’t gross, but the amount we get charged for water, I’m not washing up everything properly.

It's a quick rinse here and then out to the bin. I don't use soap and then dry.

@LethargicActress

I give things a quick rinse so that the bin isn’t gross, but the amount we get charged for water, I’m not washing up everything properly.

Although we have a dishwasher we still have some stuff that gets washed by hand. Anything to be recycled gets washed at the end of washing up after a meal. No extra water is used.

Ours wouldn’t take it dirty and it would attract flies etc as ours are open topped crates. I stick things like tins or jars in dishwasher and rinse out bottles etc at the end of washing up.