Recycling

See box below for an update on proposed new national scheme for bin collections...

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Welcome to our recycling page..

In a new series of articles, we're aiming to look at a range of different recycling–related topics in more depth. 

We'll also try to explain how we can all use some of the available knowledge to contribute to the recycling effort ourselves…and even perhaps save some money in the process…..

You'll find articles on how the following categories of used items are recycled and processed in the sub-pages attached to this one:

Food Waste, Clothes and Textiles, Electronics and Electricals.

There are also some interesting recommendations on Composting, and we've also taken a detailed look at what actually happens to our 'Green Bin' recycling waste after it's collected.

PS If you're still struggling to remember which bin is due to be collected when, help is at hand...

We've produced an additional tool which runs on your Windows pc in MS Excel as part of our e-Diary app. This will compile a full year's list of collection dates for each of the 3 types of collection i.e. General Waste, Recycling and Garden Waste. You can even generate a wall-planner style A4 printable sheet and stick it to your fridge door as a year-long 'aide memoire'.

You can download the e-Diary app from the downloads page (Diary.xlsm) and try it for yourself. (Please read the instructions first, though !)

For anyone in Leicestershire not sure of where and how to recycle their used items, LessWaste have recently provided a useful directory of the county's principal recycling organisations in the form of a Leics. Waste Prevention Map. Why not try it out for yourself ?.....

Any suggestions for new topics would be welcome - see our contact page for how to get in touch.

Update on UK.Gov new recycling initiative:

The new 'Simpler Recycling in England' regulations are starting to hit local news headlines now, and do indicate a major change with at least some weekly collections...but will they actually make things simpler ? I've provided a link to the official UK.Gov pages here so you can try to make some sense of the proposals yourselves. 

The main point is that the new scheme will need to be implemented by all local councils by end of March 2026. Apparently we'll all get at least 4 different bins to contend with under the new country-wide scheme, and the new (mandatory) food waste collections must be made weekly instead of fortnightly. 

Councils do have some discretion on how they propose to do this and they are also allowed to 'co-collect' food and garden waste in the same container, so we may finally get free garden waste collections in Charnwood as part of the deal. I'll believe that when I see it, though; the brown garden bins often provide a 'nice little earner' for some of our cash-strapped councils, who will certainly be loth to give up charging for them without a fight....if they're actually still in existence a year from now, that is ! The other deterrent for them is that if they do co-collect with food waste, they'll have to do both weekly.

The image above this box could be what we may all have to accommodate. 

More chaos to come, then...and probably before the end of the year (at least our waste is still being collected in this part of the world - for now !)

Our illustrious new government's 'continuous revolution' will be with us for the next 4 years or so at least, so 'buckle up'....and have your bin calendar generator at the ready (Diary.xlsm, available from the downloads page) to help you keep track of the new collection dates and times....it's now been updated to deal with 4 separate collections.