Wiltshire Council Recycling news

Community noticeboard

02/03/2024

29 February 2024

Welcome to February’s edition of Recycling: Let’s Sort It News, your waste and recycling e-newsletter from Wiltshire Council. This month we are giving you some tips on what to do with unwanted bulky items, how to recycle batteries safely, what not to put in your recycling bin at home and more!

Keep up to date with rubbish and recycling by visiting our website.

Never put batteries in the bin

NEVER put batteries or electricals containing them in the bin. Recently a fire started at one of our recycling centres because a battery was placed in a scrap metal bin. Please recycle batteries in the battery collection point or use our battery collection kerbside service.

Many electrical items also contain batteries. You can recycle electricals safely in the designated electrical bin at our recycling centres or see if they can be recycled using our small rechargeable electricals kerbside service.

Since launching the kerbside battery collection service we have recycled around 28 tonnes of batteries, this is equivalent to over 1.2 million AA batteries! * Thank you for recycling.

*Based on the weight of an Energizer Max Alkaline Battery.

What you shouldn’t put in your household recycling bins

The most common items incorrectly placed in blue-lidded bins in Wiltshire are:

Carrier bags and bin bags - put these in the general waste bin for energy recovery.
Hard plastics, such as toys and plant pots - take these to a household recycling centre for recycling; or put in the general waste bin for energy recovery.
Scrap metals - take these to a household recycling centre for recycling.
Nappies - put these in the general waste bin for energy recovery.

Remember most of the general waste we collect from households does not go to landfill and instead is sent to waste treatment facilities for energy recovery. Unfortunately contaminated material found in recycling bins goes to landfill. Therefore, putting items that are not suitable for recycling in the general waste bin still has an environmental benefit.

Large item reuse and collection

Having a clear out and not sure what to do with those bulky items? Take advantage of the large item reuse and collection services offered by local charities.

Bulky items that are in a useable condition such as white goods, furniture and electrical appliances can be collected directly from your doorstep for reuse by local charities.

Learn more

Monthly myth buster

Welcome back to monthly myth busters, where we give you clear answers to common myths about recycling and waste.

Myth – All waste ends up being mixed in the same lorry.

Fact – We don’t use the same vehicles for collecting waste and recycling. The recycling lorries have a large space in the back where mixed recycling goes and a separate compartment where glass is collected to make sure this is separated. Collecting good quality recycling is important to us and we would never want to mix it with non-recyclable waste.

Food waste action week 18 – 24 March

We’re proud to announce that on 18 March we'll be supporting Love Food Hate Waste’s Food Waste Action Week campaign.

This year, we are encouraging you to, “Choose What You’ll Use” by buying your fruit and vegetables loose instead of packaged. Research from Love Food Hate Waste has shown that we could reduce food waste by 60,000 tonnes just by buying loose fruit and veg! Sometimes we are in the mood for a huge potato, and sometimes we just need one carrot for our spag bol. Why let the rest go to waste? Choose loose and you don’t have to.

Find out more

Recycling tip of the month

53% of adults put glass perfume and aftershave bottles in their household waste bin, even though they can be recycled at the kerbside. * Remember you can recycle glass perfume and aftershave bottles in your black box at home.

Keep an eye out for more recycling tips during global recycling day on 18 March!

* Recycling Tracker survey: Spring 2023 | WRAP

More info on what you can recycle at home

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