Frequently asked questions about recycling

Check out the answers to these common questions to help you carry on recycling.

Why doesn't the council collect glass for recycling?

We cannot collect glass in mixed recycle bins because shards of glass get into the paper and cardboard. This lowers the quality and card and paper mills will reject it.

To collect glass kerbside, we'd need new vehicles and crews for a separate collection. This would take time and investment, but it's something we hope to provide in the future.

You can recycle glass jars and bottles at a recycling bank.

Why only collect plastic bottles, and not other plastics?

This is because the plastics used to make food pots, tubs, trays, polystyrene and plastic bags are of lower quality and there's not a sustainable market for them. Plus, our sorting plant can't separate the different types of plastics. There's not enough space to fit the additional equipment needed.

Put these other plastics in your ordinary rubbish, and they won't be wasted. They're incinerated, which produces electricity.

Why can't I recycle tin foil?

Because tin foil is used in cooking, it usually has food and grease on it. This is difficult to clean off, and could contaminate other recyclables during the recycling process. It is also a different alloy to cans, so they cannot be recycled together.

Why can't I recycle cartons and coffee cups?

These are difficult to recycle as they are made of several different materials. Our facility can't sort between cartons or card/paper. This means we could end up with a lower quality card/paper product.

All cartons and cups have a waterproof layer which is not recyclable and is hard to separate. The best solution for coffee on-the-go is a reusable coffee cup.

Why do we incinerate the rubbish?

The best way to deal with waste is to reduce and reuse what you can. Over a quarter of our general waste is good food that could have been eaten before it went off. Just using all the food we buy would save us all a huge amount of money, and reduce our carbon footprint.

Anything that has value for someone else can be re-used through charity shops or on-line sharing and selling sites.

We send materials we can't recycle for incineration. This is better for the environment and more cost-effective than landfill.

The incineration process produces heat energy which can be turned into electricity. Also, the bottom ash is used in construction and any metals that come out the end of the process are sent for recycling.