From aerosol cans to Yellow Pages, an A-Z guide (well, A-Y guide) has been published on what can be recycled and what should go in the bin in Brighton and Hove.
The online guide encourages reuse whenever possible but spells out what can go in the household recycling bins and what should be thrown away with the general rubbish.
It follows hundreds of questions to Cityclean and their clean-up crews employed by Brighton and Hove City Council.
The council said: “The easy-to-use guide gives detailed explanations of what to do with everything from aerosols to mattresses and nappies to Tetra Paks to ensure we’re all being as environmentally friendly as possible.
“The A-Z also gives advice on what to do with materials like rubble, plasterboard, asbestos, bathroom fittings, furniture, white goods, batteries and metal.
“The guide launches our new drive to help residents recycle the correct things far more.
“In turn, this will help reduce the large number of recycling bins that we collect which are contaminated with non-recyclable products.
“We all know we can recycled items like plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and glass.
“But if you’re unsure about what to do with specific items or materials and put the wrong ones in your recycling, this can lead to your bin being contaminated and possibly being taken to waste rather than be recycled.
“Using the guide, which can be easily accessed online by phone, computer or tablet, means contamination of your recycling can be avoided.
“It also means items and materials can be reduced or reused by yourself or someone else.”
Councillor Gill Mitchell, who chairs the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said: “I’m sure many of us have been in the situation where we don’t know what to do with a certain material or item. Do we put it in our recycling? Bin it? Give it away?
“Now, armed with our new A-Z, we’ll all be able to do the right thing and help protect our city and our planet better – and ensure we’re making the best use of the materials we no longer want or need.”
To find the guide log on to www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/recycling. Click on the Recycling A-Z link and search the 179 alphabetical entries.
The council said: “The guide uses what’s called the ‘waste hierarchy’, starting with how to reduce the use of a material or item, then how to reuse it, then recycle and finally, when none of other others can be done, the best way to dispose of them.
“In the case of plastic bags, first of all the A-Z suggests using a reusable bag rather than a plastic one.
“If that can’t be done, the next suggestion is how to reuse the plastic bag, for instance, as a bin liner.
“If that’s not possible, we say whether it can be recycled – plastic bags cannot – and then how it should be disposed.
“As materials vary enormously, the use of reduce, reuse, recycle, dispose varies also.
“For instance, we only say that styrofoam, which is used in packaging, cannot be recycled but should be disposed of in your household rubbish. However, textiles can be reused or recycled.”
Councillor Mitchell added: “Although our recycling rate is the highest it’s ever been, we must aim much higher.
“We’re hoping this guide is a game changer in helping us all to recycle more and reduce contamination.”
How about they take everything with a recycle logo on it, along with all glass and metalsd, and sort out what they can make money rather than get us to do it..
Everything you need to know about recycling; it’s all shipped to China, mixed together and dumped in landfill…
It is a shame that the website advises people to put material into the rubbish that can be recycled by other organisations in Brighton.
The council site should mention those people, like Magpie Co-op and The Green Center at the Open Market.
We could do well to get rid of the black-bag mentality. I do not understand why people think they need to put a bag in a bin: items can be thrown in loose, and then transferred to the bin loose.
It depends on the things being thrown in. Former neighbours did this with all rubbish – vegetable peelings, chicken carcasses, unwashed tins, bottles, pieces of wood, etc, and they didn’t wash out the bin. They also weren’t fussy about which bin they used, so I had to get there fast on collection day to retrieve “my” bin before it got taken and contaminated. Their bin had a couple of inches of grease in the bottom of it, and stank, so I would have to wash it out if I didn’t manage to get my normal bin. On the face of it they were educated people in responsible jobs but had a slobbish attitude to living and didn’t see why they should do it differently.
Shows that composting needs to be encouraged (it’s a delight). Tins are washed out at the depot. We also need to collect food waste (a third of what goes in waste), and there do seem – slowly – to be Government measures to subsidise this nationally. Frustrating that all this did not happen twenty years ago.
Christoper – I also have a large compost bin in the garden, but I have great difficulty calling is a “delight” – please can you explain how you achieve attaining “delightfulness” from a black bin?
Also, I understand, that only raw vegetable matter should be put in the compost bin, as food waste encourages vermine. Please can you explain what the process would be to store food in homes (separation by type and possibly chilled?); the collection mechanism (another doorstep or community bin); and the economics (who would pay for this)? What food would they want (i.e. chicken carcasses or bread that has gone moldy?) or would they only want reusable excess, rather than waste food?
I recall my parents had a zinc bucket with a lid for “pig swill” that was collected regularly. Is this the sort of “food collection” you envision?
Or is the option of just incinerating all non-recyclables to generate electricity and avoid landfill the best way?
How about we all help Hoveman.
Do you mean that Hoveman means help from all of us (certainly a point of view) or that Hoveman should take part in the general effort?