READING Borough Council is urging residents to consider which items they can recycle as it marks Recycle Week 2024.
It comes as figures from recycling partnership re3 show that more than two-thirds of items thrown away in grey bins in the borough could be recycled.
The council is encouraging residents to check which items they may be disposing of in black bins which could go in other household recycling or disposed of at local recycling centres.
Among the things which can be recycled include food waste, which makes up around 21% of grey bin waste.
The council recommends using a zero waste recipe generator app to find new ways of using food which would otherwise go to waste.
Textiles make up around 8% of grey bin waste in the borough, which the council recommends disposing of at one of over 40 textiles banks around Reading, or reused by donating to charity shops.
Glass makes up 4% of grey bin waste, which can be recycled at bottle banks.
Items such as paper, card, tins, plastics, aerosols, foil, and cartons make up around 22% of grey bin waste.
The council recommends using cardboard as insulation for a compost heap, or for making biodegradable pots and other items.
Items such as tin cans can be reused as containers and tidies, and those which can’t be reused can be cleaned, flattened, and recycled.
Meanwhile garden waste, wood, metal, and electrical items make up another 13% of grey bin waste.
Small electricals can be left on top of recycling bins during collection to be taken away with recycling.
Garden waste can also be disposed of through the council’s fortnightly subscription, which costs less than £1.50 a week
re3’s recycling centres, including at Island Road in Reading, can recycle more than 25 different material streams from large items such as appliances and furniture to small things like coffee pods, batteries and vapes.
Vapes, like batteries, should never be disposed of in your bins at home due to the possibility that they can cause fires which endanger staff and damage facilities.
Residents can use the re3 app, which is designed to help with recycling and waste reduction for more than 36 million products which users can scan product barcodes to offer instant, location-specific recycling guidance
Recycle Week, organised by Recycle Now, is the UK’s biggest celebration of recycling, publicising the nation’s recycling habits through activities happening across the country.
While nine in ten people in the UK recycle, 79% of people put one or more items into the bin which could have been recycled, according to Recycle Now figures.
Karen Rowland, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services and Community Safety, said: “We know many residents in Reading appreciate the importance of recycling to help keep waste from unnecessarily going to landfill.
“But the figures show that despite this two-thirds of what goes in Reading’s grey bins should have been recycled through other means.
“This comes at a tremendous cost to the Council in disposing of waste.”
So, she explained: “We’re asking residents to get creative and think more carefully when they go to put anything in their bin as to whether it could be repurposed or if it should go somewhere else instead.
“That pair of socks with holes in them should go to a textiles bank instead, any glass should go to one of our many bottle banks around the borough, and many people don’t realise that aerosols – be they deodorants or squirty cream cans – can also be recycled in your red recycling box rather than thrown away.”
“If we all start thinking more when we dispose of an item and make small adjustments to our habits, together we can recycle so much more, minimise our impact on the environment, save valuable resources and reduce disposal costs.”
Craig Stephens, Senior Campaign Manager for Recycle Now, said: “We are delighted that Reading Borough Council is supporting Recycle Week. While a light-hearted campaign, recycling is essential to limit the impact what we buy has on the environment.
“Keeping these materials circulating means we can reduce emissions linked with our weekly shop–Most people are recycling, and the material we capture has a multitude of uses, so the next step is to ensure everyone captures everything they can.
“Every aerosol, every trigger spray bottle, every plastic pot and toilet roll tube: Rescue – recycle!”
