Boost your recycling efforts with plastic pots, tubs and trays - 31 March 2015
Residents in West Sussex will soon be able to add more plastic items than ever before to their recycling bins.
From Wednesday 1 April, household pots, tubs and trays will be accepted as part of the regular recycling collections across the whole of the county.
It means you will be able to add things like yoghurt pots, ice cream tubs, fruit and vegetable trays and ready meal trays to your bins – but they must still be washed out and dried first.
It’s expected that this will see an increase of 1% on the recycling rate in West Sussex, which is currently just above 41%.
It will also bring additional financial benefits to the county, via a reduction in landfill tax payments which is currently £82 per tonne of waste delivered to landfill.
Increased quantities of good quality recycling – that’s correct items which are also clean, dry, loose - provide better value for money than sending rubbish to landfill. It also helps to conserve valuable resources.
The sale of plastic collected will also produce an additional income which will be shared between the West Sussex Waste Partnership, which is made up of the County Council, District and Borough Councils and Viridor, the county’s recycling contractor.
Philippa Dart, Assistant Director of Environmental Services at Arun District Council, said: "This move is something I fully support and welcome. We have made good progress so far, and the added items will help us work towards the UK’s 50% recycling target for 2020. The changes will also help the taxpayer as all recycled items are sold and monies are used to keep Council Tax low.”
From the start of April, plastics that can be accepted in your recycling are:
- Milk and drinks bottles;
- Bathroom bottles;
- Laundry/detergent bottles & tubs;
- Yoghurt, cream & soup pots;
- Ice cream & margarine tubs;
- Cosmetic pots & tubs;
- Food & ready meal trays;
- Fruit & vegetable punnets; and
- Plastic container lids (such as those used on coffee jars).
But there are still a few plastic items that you can’t add to your household recycling collections. These include:
- Plastic carrier bags & plastic film;
- Expanded polystyrene;
- Plant pots & seed trays;
- Plastic toys; and
- Plastic furniture.