When it comes to recycling, it can admittedly get confusing. We’ve all been there, and with various unique rules for each product and packaging type, lines can get blurred. With sustainability becoming such a prominent topic both at work and at home, disorganised and incorrect waste disposal can lead to missed recycling opportunities. As a result, you might not be making as much of a positive impact as you could.
Following a 94% increase in interest for the term ‘recyclable waste’¹ in the past 12 months, sustainable waste management experts, Envirovue, delve into five everyday items you may think you can recycle but actually can’t, and share advice on how these items should be disposed of correctly.
- Single-use coffee cups
Takeaway coffee cups are a common item that can be misinterpreted as 100% recyclable. On-the-go coffee is a huge market that millions of consumers buy into every day. In fact, in 2020, an estimated 7.7 million people used coffee shops or sandwich bars to purchase a takeaway drink².
As the lining within the cup is typically wax or poly-coated, it can’t be disposed of in a general recycling bin. This is because recycling machinery is unable to separate the plastic lining material from the remaining recyclable fibres and this will contaminate the other recyclable items.
As most single-use coffee cups comprise a non-recyclable lining, many coffee shops have started providing a recycling point in-store to ensure cups can be recycled efficiently. Disposing of the coffee cup in a separate waste stream ensures the plastic lining can be stripped from the fibre, and both materials can be recycled successfully. Takeaway coffee cups can also be recycled into food and drink stations at your nearest Recycling Centre.
If you’re a business where your staff or customers have access to this type of product, sourcing cups that are 100% recyclable would be the ultimate solution. Choosing 100% recyclable cups would eliminate the plastic lining from the cup, and would instead be replaced with a water-based lining. This would allow the disposal of coffee cups to fit within the guidelines of the mixed paper recycling waste stream.
Furthermore, businesses could also implement a single-use cup scheme to encourage customers to cut down on using single-use cups.
- Food-contaminated cardboard
Following a 68% increase for the search term ‘recyclable items’³, it’s clear there may be confusion regarding recyclable items.
Take a takeaway pizza box, for instance. Whilst the cardboard is made from recyclable materials, once food, grease and oil have contaminated the cardboard, this can’t be thrown in a general recycling bin anymore. Each tonne of waste collected from a household recycling bin that can’t be recycled implements an extra cost of around £93 to dispose of through an energy-from-waste facility, equalling over £48 million per year in additional costs⁴
If mistakenly thrown in the recycling, the threat of food waste and grease can damage the recycling equipment and contaminate other recycled materials in the process. For example, the recycling rate for 2020/2021 was 53.02%; however, 6.5% of the recycled material collected since April 2020 was rejected due to contamination⁵.
Ultimately, leading to further non-recycling waste than the initial waste itself so this type of waste should be disposed of alongside any other food waste.
- Household Glass
In 2020, 525,000 tonnes of household recycling collected were rejected at the point of sorting⁶; and when it comes to recycling glass items, it can be deceivingly complex. Although clean food bottles, food jars and items such as aftershave and face creams can be recycled; items that can’t be disposed of in a glass recycling bin include mirrors, lightbulbs, crockery, glass cookware, Pyrex, drinking glasses and vases.
A lot of household glass can’t be recycled because of the chemicals needed to create the product. Following a 77% increase for the term ‘recycling centre near me’⁷ , researching the closest location to dispose of household glass correctly may help guide you on the best local options for recycling. Whether that’s at a supermarket or a local recycling centre. Waste experts, Envirovue, suggest a great way to recycle household glass is to simply pass it on to someone who may use it or donate it to charity.
Glass cookware manufactured to withstand high heat, such as Pyrex, is non-recyclable and should be disposed of in a general waste bin. Likewise, halogen light bulbs can’t be recycled at your local recycling centre. However, an energy-saving light bulb, for example, can go to a local recycling centre; there are many recycling centres so simply searching for your nearest centre is the best way to find this.
- Medical Waste
When not disposed of appropriately, medical waste can be hazardous. Ensuring the correct disposal method of items such as needles, syringes, scalpels, and other biohazards is crucial. Medical waste should be segregated into separate waste streams to ensure the best outcome for the environment and the people handling it.
Many treatment options are available to dispose of infectious waste. Infectious sharp waste in most cases must always be sent for high-temperature incineration or steam sterilisation.
