More facilities, different colour bin lids and better information are helping to make it easier for residents to recycle in Brighton & Hove.
As Recycle Week (14-20 October) gets underway, the council is highlighting how it is working to remove the barriers to recycling and provide more options to recycle at home and at recycling points.
In the spring, Brighton & Hove expanded recycling facilities, putting out more orange bins for cartons and introducing pink bins for small electricals at recycling points around the city.
The council is replacing the lids of other bins to make it easier to identify what goes where. This includes burgundy lids for glass and light blue for general recycling.
This week, council staff will be out and about in the city talking about recycling and answering questions. Drop in on any one of the sessions from 11am to 3pm on:
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “Improving recycling is a core priority for the council. Whilst we are working on our plans to expand the service in the city, we want to remove the barriers for our residents and visitors to dispose of their waste in the most sustainable was possible.
“National Recycle Week is a reminder of how important it is to support residents to successfully recycle. More than a third of the 7,722 tonnes of contamination in our recycling bins is general waste, so changing that alone would make a huge difference.
“We’ve put messages on our new electric trucks and are working with students, landlords and community groups to encourage more recycling and make sure everyone has access to the right information.
“Looking further ahead we’ll be introducing food waste collections and recycling for cartons, foil and plastic pots, tubs and trays.”
In Brighton & Hove, more than a third of the ‘wrong’ items in our recycling bins are general waste and black bags of rubbish which can’t be recycled. Another 15% is mixed plastic packaging. Glass and cartons or Tetra Pak which are recycled separately, account for another 11% and 6% respectively.
Too many black bags and other materials that can’t be recycled together can lead to the whole truck load being disposed of as waste.
Not only that, but nearly 40% of what’s in general household waste bins could be recycled. A recent bin analysis revealed 15% was dry, mixed recycling, like paper and cardboard, which can go in the general recycling.
Other items like garden waste (9.3%) and fruit and veg peelings (9.2%), can be recycled through garden waste collections or community composting. Recyclable metals (2.9%) can be taken to Household Waste Recycling sites and glass (2.7%) can be recycled separately in the glass recycling bins.
Irons, toasters, electric toothbrushes, kettles and many smaller electrical items can be put in the pink bins at recycling points.
You can also recycle old cables in these pink bins. The average UK home has at least 4 or 5 unused cables gathering dust in a drawer and 5 million of them are binned every year, enough to circle the earth 5 times.
Cables contain copper, and 75% of materials in our electricals can be recycled and used again and again, like copper, gold, lithium and aluminium.
Take part in the Great Cable Challenge – dig out your old unwanted cables and recycle them today.
Find your nearest small electricals recycling point.
Find out more about what you can and can't recycle in Brighton & Hove, and find your nearest recycling point.
More about International E-Waste Day.
More about the national Recycle Week campaign.
