Recycling Plastic Packaging

Identifying different types of plastic for recycling can be difficult if you don't know what you are looking for and is often a hot topic of conversation. You can now recycle margarine tubs, yogurt pots and plastic meat trays in addition to plastic bottles, which makes it much easier. The following poem is designed to help you identify different ypes of plastics

• Plastic Poem-which types of plastics can I recycle in my green bin?File Type: Adobe PDF document, File Size:185.91 Kb (27 seconds @ 56K)

General rules for recycling items made from plastic:

The Snap Test

• Polystyrene will snap (like a prawn cracker) when bent. If it snaps, we can't recycle it.
  Food Packaging / Containers: the majority can be recycled - except Expanded Polystyrene (The Snap Test)

The Stretch Test

• Plastic wrapping that stretches (i.e carrier bags) can be recycled. If it doesn't stretch, we can't recycle it.
  Plastic Wrapping: generally, if it stretches it can be recycled. So carrier bags = YES, cellophane = NO (The Stretch Test)

Item	Recyclable?	Further Information
Fruit Nets	No	not currently accepted for recycling
Cellophane Wrapping	No	apply the Stretch Test
Cat Food / Coffee Pouches	No	usually made from layers of foil and plastic - difficult to separate
Yoghurt Pots	Yes	often made from Polypropylene (the same plastic as Tupperware)
Fruit Punnets	Yes	commonly made from PET (the same as plastic bottles)
Margarine Tubs	Yes	often made from Polypropylene
Plastic Trays	Yes	often don't have a recycling symbol (triangle with number inside) but can be recycled apply the Snap Test - Expanded Polystyrene trays will snap
Biscuit Trays	Yes	often don't have a recycling symbol (triangle with number inside) but can be recycled

Remember to swish & squish !
...we can fit at least 60% more bottles in the container if you do!