Tin cans? Put a lid on it!
You can actually leave the lids on your tin cans as long as they’re still attached and pushed inside. Larger tins such as baby formula tins are also accepted. Loose lids floating in your recycling are too small to be recycled and the sharp edges pose a safety risk to staff, so please wrap them and put them in your rubbish if they come off the tin.
What’s the deal with bottle caps?
Both plastic and metal lids and bottle tops are not recyclable in your kerbside recycling. This is because anything smaller than a yoghurt pottle cannot go through the sorting and bailing process at the recycling facility.
The Tip Shop and Sustainability Trust have free collection points for clean, metal bottle caps, lids for glass jars and grade 2 and 5 plastic lids.
Plant pots – not as green as they seem!
Unfortunately, plastic plant and seedling pots can’t go in your kerbside recycling. However, if they’re in good nick, you can donate them to a variety of organisations and charities including your local op-shop or the Tip Shop (if they have space and there is market demand), list them on a marketplace, or check with your community garden so they can be reused.
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Alternatively, you can take any grade 5 plastic pots to your local Mitre 10 store for recycling.
Which paper makes the cut?
Not all paper is actually recyclable. Receipts and thermal paper contain chemicals so they’re a no go. The fibres in tissue paper, paper towels and napkins are too short so they can’t be recycled either. But wrapping paper (without glitter, foil or plastic), office paper and newspapers all make the cut and can go in your kerbside recycling.
If the paper is smaller than a credit card, it will need to go in the rubbish as it’s too small to go through processing and bailing machinery.