Know Your Plastic Recycling
The Beatles sang that nobody knows precisely how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall (we paraphrase to avoid copyright problems). But what we do know is that in less than 2 hours the UK produces enough waste to fill the Albert Hall. Last year we used almost 4.7 million tonnes of plastic. You can imagine where most of this ends up (not actually in the Albert Hall, or the O2, but in landfills).
Let’s do something about this. First, let’s know exactly what we’re binning.
Some years ago (stay with us, it isn’t a long story) the American Society of Plastics Industry (they throw a great dinner dance at Christmas) developed a standard for identifying the different kinds of plastics. Those are the little numbers in the middle of the chasing triangle on the bottom or your Pepsi bottle or food tray. Through approximately 86 percent of UK local authorities recycle plastic bottles, not all plastics cannot be recycled in the same way. Most recycling is still sorted by hand, separating them by polymer type and colour.
You’d help these poor sods out if you recycled the right things. How can you do this? We’re glad you asked, because it’s simple. Just go to recyclenow.com, find the postcode locator, type in your postcode and discover exactly what plastics are recyclable in your area.
And here is a helpful chart deciphering those oblique numbers on the bottom of your plastic containers:
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PET
Polyethylene terephthalate - Fizzy drink bottles and oven-ready meal trays
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HDPE
High-density polyethylene - Bottles for milk and washing-up liquids.
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PVC
Polyvinyl chloride - Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, mineral water and shampoo.
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LDPE
Low density polyethylene - Carrier bags and bin liners.
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PP
Polypropylene - Margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays.
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PS
Polystyrene - Yoghurt pots, foam meat or fish trays, hamburger boxes and egg cartons, vending cups, plastic cutlery, protective packaging for electronic goods and toys.
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OTHER
Any other plastics that do not fall into any of the above categories. An example is melamine, which is often used in plastic plates and cups.
Generally, the lower the number, the easier it is to be recycled. Recycled centres really like PET bottles as they’re made of durable plastic that can be easily reconstituted. Most councils recycle this type of plastic.
If you’re having problems finding recycling containers in your area, go to recyclenow.com. They should be able to tell you where your local recycling centre is. You’ll also learn some exciting facts you can impress people with at parties. (Make sure you clean up after the party and, you know, recycle.) Here they are:
On average, every person in the UK throws out his or her own body weight in rubbish every 7 weeks. (And most people are overweight.)
Each UK household produces over 1 tonne of rubbish annually, amounting to about 31 million tonnes for the UK each year.
Every 8 months the UK produces enough waste to fill Lake Windermere. (That’s the largest lake in England. Didn’t you take Geography?)
Every year, the average dustbin contains enough unrealised energy for 500 baths, 3,500 showers or 5,000 hours of television. (Having a telly in your bathroom doesn’t actually save energy, and could be dangerous.)
In the late 1960s the most popular band in Czechoslovakia was called The Plastic People of the Universe. We’re not sure how well they recycled.