Cheddar Recycling Centre

The recycling rate in the UK has increased in recent years, but so has the generation of waste.

The percentage that is recycled in the UK so far is approximately 45% of the waste generated.

The latest report from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) indicates that the waste generated in British homes amounts to approximately 26 million tonnes of waste each year, of which only 12 million are recycled. The other 14 million tons end up in landfills.

Green recycling bins are typically the designated bins for depositing recyclable glass materials. However, this may vary depending on the municipality in which you are located. For example, in some municipalities the green color in the containers is used for dry recyclable materials.

It’s important not to confuse containers for glass recyclables or dry recyclables with wheelie bins that are for green yard waste.

To be sure of what you should deposit in your green container, you can contact your nearest recycling center and obtain more detailed information.

In the UK, recycling centers and rubbish collection services commonly use blue bins to identify dry waste such as:

• Paper
• Newspapers and magazines
• Cardboard
• Unwanted mail
• Telephone directories and catalogs
• Cereal boxes (without the plastic liner)
• Egg cartons
• Greeting cards
• Drink and food cans

However, not always the container for dry recyclables is blue. Some municipalities use red recycling containers or some even issue blue and red containers for this type of material.

To have precise information, you can consult your nearest recycling center.

Brown bins are not that common in the UK. However, if the town hall to which you belong has them, this is what you can deposit in these containers:

The brown containers are for mixed recycling in most of the country’s municipalities where this color is issued. These mixed recycling materials include:

• Plastic bottles
• Food cans
• Beverage cans
• Aerosol sprays
• Aluminum foil (including trays)
• Glass bottles and jars

However, you must make sure what type of materials you should deposit in your brown container by contacting your nearest recycling center directly, since in some municipalities the brown containers are intended for organic waste from the garden and food waste.

Materials that are not recyclable or are not properly separated will generally end up in a landfill. A landfill is a very large holes built into certain designated spaces for that function.

Until a few years ago, the waste was piled up in the places designated to be dumps, but today in modern and well-managed landfills, large holes are built in which the garbage is buried, with a system of layers that isolates the waste. of the air and water, which has significantly reduced the contamination of the environment by contact with toxic residues. However, landfills still represent an important source of pollution that affects the environment and human beings.