The UK produces more than 434 million tonnes of rubbish every year, but over 60% of this can be recycled.
Recycling is not complicated simply sort your recyclables into the correct bin, bag or basket. This prevents them from getting sent to landfills with other rubbish, and allows them to get remade into many useful products. Every item recycled makes a difference!
All the information you need to recycle in Westminster is on this website.
If you still have questions though, call us on 020 7641 2000 or contact the recycling team
How do I recycle?
How you recycle in Westminster depends on what kind of property you live in. Some areas have a doorstep service and some have large communal recycling bins.
Doorstep recycling: Westminster’s doorstep service collects recycling from your door once a week. You just need to collect all your recycling in you recycling bag or basket and leave it out for collection on the right day. Click here to find out if you have a doorstep service and when your collection is.
If you need more information or you need a new basket or more disposable blue bags call us on: 020 7641 2000.
What can I recycle?
You can recycle all of the following items:
Newspapers Magazines Junk mail including those with window envelopes!
White and yellow telephone directories
Flattened cardboard
Computer paper
All types and colours of glass bottles, but please remove the lids
All types and colours of glass jars, but please remove the lids
Drink cans
Food cans
Aerosol cans only if completely empty
All plastic bottles, but please remove the lids
For a full list of what you can recycle, visit the recycling A – Z.
Unfortunately, the following items cannot be collected for various reasons:
Yoghurt pots
Microwave trays
Vegetable plastic containers and trays
Clingfilm
Plastic bags all types
Polystyrene packaging
Tetrapak cartons these contain a mixture of materials and cannot be recycled with ordinary paper
Broken glass (ie: broken drinking glasses and window panes)
Glass used in light bulbs, windows, or cookware these are a different type of glass than the glass used to make bottles and jars
Crisp and snack packets these contain a metal coated plastic film that is not recyclable despite resembling alumninum
Coffee packaging as with crisp packets, these also contain a metal coated plastic film which is not recyclable
Where does my recycling go?
After recyclables are collected they are sent to a materials recovery facility where they are then separated by machines including magnets and infrared sensors.
Recycled materials collected from Westminsters micro recycling centres are sent to different processing plants for each material. Once they have been sorted, different things happen to different materials:
Paper and cardboard: Paper is cleaned, mulched and sent to a paper making machine where it is made into huge rolls. Recycled paper is often used to make newsprint for daily newspapers. Higher quality paper can be used as office paper and for publications. Cardboard is mulched and remade back into cardboard packaging for businesses to use again.
Glass bottles and jars: Mixed glass recycling is used as an aggregate in road surfacing projects. This product is called ‘glasphalt’. Westminster then uses glasphalt in some of the road resurfacing projects in the city.
Drink cans and food tins: Aluminium cans and steel food tins are seperated by magnets.
Alumninum cans are then sorted and compressed for reprocessing. After being crushed, shredded, heated and melted, pure aluminium is sent to can manufacturers who produce new drink cans for shops. Steel food tins are melted down to make new steel products. These can be anything from more tins, domestic appliances to yacht hulls and steel girders.
Plastic bottles: Plastic bottles are generally recycled into products such as storage boxes, bins, fencing and drainpipes. Some of the more specialised products made from recycled plastic include ‘eco-fleece’ clothing and recycled stationery e.g. pencils.
Post time: Jun-18-2017