13 August 2012
What goes in your Blue bin
Huntingdonshire residents are among the top recyclers in the country recycling around 60 per cent of all household waste. This is an outstanding achievement and Huntingdonshire District Council appreciates all the efforts residents make to sort their waste.
There is often still some confusion over what materials can be recycled in the blue bin which unfortunately means a number of blue bins are being rejected due to incorrect materials being present. Blue bins with incorrect materials in are stickered for your information, and are not collected until your next recycling collection once these items are removed. The council wants to make recycling as easy as possible for residents and encourages everyone to only place the materials listed below in the blue bin and help to reduce the risk of any recyclable material going to landfill.
- Plastic Bottles – remove the lids, wash the bottle and then squash
- Drinks cans and food tins – rinse before putting in your blue bin to reduce other materials being contaminated with food waste
- Paper, card, magazines and phone directories – no matter how big or small all types of paper is accepted, including envelopes
- Juice and milk cartons – rinse out any residue before placing in to your blue bin
- Glass jars and bottles – once washed out, these can be put straight into your blue bin with the rest of your recycling
Place your recycling straight into your blue bin loose, there is no need to sort in to material types or place in plastic bags. Materials that are wrongly placed in the blue bin are a significant problem, which the council is working hard to minimise, but we can’t reduce the contamination of the blue bin without your help. The following items cannot be recycled in your blue bin
- Black plastic bags – avoid putting your recycling into a bag before placing into your blue bin. Reuse bags where you can for shopping
- Textiles, clothes and shoes - we are unable to recycle textiles placed in the blue bin. If you have unwanted textiles pass them on to your local charity shop or place in one of the textile banks located throughout the district. To find out more about recycling your textiles visit the Recap website by using the link on the right.
All food waste is collected for composting from your green bin. If you don’t currently have a green bin, place any food waste with your normal waste.
If you have any unwanted Wood items, take these to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre where it will be collected for recycling.
Disposable nappies should be placed in your domestic waste bin for landfill. To find out more about reusable nappies visit the Goreal website by using the link on the right.
Councillor Darren Tysoe, Executive Councillor for the environment said: “We are constantly looking at ways to improve the refuse and recycling service we provide, and one way we can all do this is to simply know what materials go where to ensure that they get recycled rather than sent to landfill. Landfill costs the council thousands of pounds every year and, as taxpayers, our residents contribute to this. Reducing landfill costs is for everyone’s benefit.”
Contamination can easily be avoided by only placing the correct items in your blue bin for recycling. Learn more about the materials that can be recycled in the blue bin by using the link or ring 01480 388640