Become a Recycling Master

Become a Recycling Master

Thankfully, people are becoming a lot more mindful about the environment and consequently, what should and shouldn't go into their Green Bins. That's actually a question that we receive a couple of times a week here at Kollect so we said we'd do a little blog on it.

What your Green Bin loves

The obvious food for your Green Bin (we don't mean that literally by the way “ please don't put food into your Green Bin), is paper “ newspapers, office paper, magazines, old catalogues etc. If it's clean, and made of paper, chuck it in the green one. Cardboard is another winner. You know all those boxes and brown wrapping that you get from Amazon? Chuck them in the Green bin. The same is true of all that junk mail we get every day “ into the Green Bin with them. When it comes to cardboard packaging, such as food boxes etc, it's best if you can take off any plastic from them. Green Bins also accept steel cans such as beans, pet food etc, but please wash them out first. The same is true of plastic bottles such as mineral bottles, shampoo bottles etc, if they're hard plastics, they are more than welcome in your Green Bin!

What your Green Bin hates

The list of what not to put in your Green Bin is a lot longer than what you're allowed put in there. Here's a comprehensive list of no-nos

Nappies and sanitary products (including baby wipes)

Food waste

Broken toys

Contaminated packaging (greasy, dirty or with residue)

Garden cuttings / soil

Expanded polystyrene (e.g from new electronic packaging). Some civic amenity sites can accept this material, check with your local site.

Liquids / oils

Textiles “ including clothes / shoes and home furnishings

Dismantled furniture

Medical waste

Glass “ bring this to your local bring bank

Light bulbs

Electrical / electronic equipment (anything that can contain a battery or a plug)

Batteries

General waste that should be in the general waste bin

When in doubt, it's probably best to put your waste in the general bin. In time you'll become a recycling expert “ we're all getting there slowly but surely. Over the last twenty years, Ireland has gone from being one of Europe's lowest performers to the highest for packaging recycling. However, approximately 87,000 tonnes of non-recyclable material ends up in recycling bins every year so while we're starting to get the hang of it, the report card for most of us still reads “can do better!