South Holland’s dry recycling rate is fantastic, being around 30 per cent of all waste produced from our residents.
This week I’ve been looking at what items are the most and least popular to recycle in our green bags.
The most popular item found in green bags is paper, with this making up 39 per cent of all the materials sent for recycling.
This equates to 298 tonnes of paper.
The second most popular material to be found in green bags is glass which accounts for 17 per cent of South Holland’s recycling.
This again means that over 130 tonnes of glass was recycled in the past month.
Surprisingly less than five per cent of materials sent to our Materials Recycling Facility are cans and tins, which is only 38 tonnes.
What is important to remember is there is potentially a lot more of recycling that is collected which can’t be recycled as it has been contaminated.
Contamination can cause hundreds of tonnes of recycling to be rejected or sent to other disposal routes, which unfortunately lowers our recycling rate.
Follow these simple tips to reduce contamination in your green bag:
Make sure your recyclable items are clean before putting them in your green bag
Make sure no food waste goes in your green bag
Only recycle what is listed on the side of the green bag
If in doubt leave it out!
Please remember to recycle correctly so we can raise our recycling rate even higher!
by Laura Simpkins
South Holland District Council waste recycling officer
Twitter: @SHDCWaste
