Join the Big Recycling Hunt

Food waste

Oxfordshire already recycle nearly half of all food waste produced, over 25,000 tonnes of food is still thrown away in the rubbish bins. What does this amount of food look like? It is about the same as 800 million packets of crisps – the same number as there are people in the whole of Europe. Some food gets thrown away uneaten in its packaging because it has gone off. If this happens, please separate the food from the packaging and put it into your food bin. You can also then recycle the packaging.

Card and paper

Most paper and card can be recycled – except for things like paper towels and greaseproof paper. Almost 6,000 tonnes of paper and card has been found making up the rubbish bin each year. This missing recyclable paper and card weighs the same as around 23 million empty cardboard boxes. If these were laid end to end, they would stretch from Oxford to Malaysia.

Aerosols

There have been numerous recyclable aerosols found in the rubbish bins each year. Empty aerosols can be recycled in your kerbside recycling bin and partially full or full aerosols should be taken to a Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Food and drinks cans

Nearly 2,000 tonnes of metal tins, the equivalent weight as more than 4 million cans of baked beans, are found in the rubbish bins each year, which is valuable metal that could have been recycled.

Food tins should be rinsed before you recycle them. The best time to do this is at the end of washing up so you’re not increasing your water use. Drinks cans should also be empty, tip them upside down and leave them to drain in the sink if needed.

Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays

All Oxfordshire councils accept plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays at the kerbside. This is mostly food packaging but also bottles and tubs from other rooms of the house – for example, washing up and cleaning bottles.

• Leave the lids on the bottles
• Remove any plastic film lids from pots tubs and trays – these could be recycled separately in the bins at some large supermarkets
• Leave the spray nozzle on things like spray cleaner bottles

As with food tins, please make sure all food containers are rinsed.

More than 4,000 tonnes of dense plastics are still being found in the rubbish bin each year, the same weight as more than 90 million plastic drinks bottles.

Be a part of The Big Recycling Hunt, making sure to find those items that have escaped the recycling bin.

We all want to see cleaner oceans, streets, and a healthy planet. It can feel like an overwhelming challenge, but change is possible. It is important to recycle correctly as the environmental and economic value of the item can be recovered to create new products. Recycling reduces the need for new raw materials, reducing carbon emissions and the energy used to make the products we buy.