General Chat

Out of curiosity, I looked up to see what the recycling percentage rates are in the Outer Hebrides. Considering the blue bins here with a 3 weekly collection are overflowing, I figured we must be doing our fair share.
However the rate is just 24%!!

All quality recycled plastic that can be reused is sent to the mainland as there are no facilities here to reuse it. The cost of shipping the plastic away is huge.

So I'm not really sure as an area, what we can do to increase the percentage??

Have a look for your own area and see what percentage you have for recycling then we can see how areas vary.

I know in West Sussex, they only have 2 bins, one blue for recycling and everything else in general household rubbish including food. They don't seem to have an organic and non organic bin? Thought everyone had 2 black bins plus a blue one?

Florence in the hebrides

In rural Highland Region we have two bins, which are emptied in alternate weeks. A blue one for recycling (but not glass), and a green one for everything else. Nothing for food waste in rural areas, though I believe they do have that in Inverness. Glass has to be taken to a bottle bank.

Like Joan, next year we are to have three bins.
Our present blue one will be for paper and card only, to be emptied every 4 weeks.
Our present green one will be for other recycling (but not glass), to be emptied every 4 weeks.
They'll give us a new SMALLER grey one for general non-recyclable waste, to be emptied fortnightly.

Very confusing!
Also harder for me, as I use my present green general bin for non-compostable garden waste - ie - twiggy stuff. It's full almost every time, so a smaller bin isn't going to be helpful.

As with food waste, specific garden waste bins and collection are only available in Inverness (if you have a permit costing £47.75) and not in rural areas.

The recycling rate for Highland Region is said to be 37%, of what's put into kerbside bins.

We have 4 bins. Blue for recycling, collected every 2 weeks, Grey for glass, 4 weeks, Green for everything else, every 3 weeks and a food waste caddy, emptied weekly. When it's very windy, the caddy blows away - I am now on my 3rd!!

I am in Argyll and Bute, with a rate for 2021 (the most recent available) of 49.3%. The previous year was only 43%, caused by collection problems during the pandemic.

The best place in England in 2019 was somewhere called Three Rivers, at over 60% and the worst was Barrow-in-Furness, with less than 20%.

In Winchester, we have a recycling bin (excluding glass), a general waste bin, and for an arm and a leg, we can rent a garden waste bin. We also have a black box for glass.
The black glass box is large, with no lid, and has holes in the bottom. It tends to stay outside, where, if it rains, water accumulates in the bottom. This means, when taking it out, you get water dripping all over the floor (I'm mid-terrace) and all over your legs/feet. I rarely use it.
I don't have a garden waste bin, but P, who lives next door has. As I take the bins out (she brings them in), if there is space in her bin, I will fill it for her before taking it out!

Hampshire's recycling percentage for 21/22 was 38%

Andysmum -

Perhaps you're in a town in Argyll?

My daughter lives in a rural part of Argyll, and only has the blue and green bins.

We're in a village, about 15 miles from a town, but classed as part of The Central Belt, so probably not really rural.

Funny how if differs so much. Our organic bin that takes paper, garden waste etc also includes food which is in a biodegradable liner that you put in the caddie in your kitchen. When full, tie the bag and put in organic bin.

I'm finding it strange that we have 4 bins that cover everything and yet our recycling rate is fairly low!

We have a black wheelie bin for general waste, 2 Green crates one for glass, one for tins and plastic, a large bag for paper and card, and a food waste box. Fed up with it all really.

Our council is around 50%. But people just don’t seem to get what can and ca’t be recycled.
I get annoyed when passing the boxes outside houses that are full of the wrong thing.

My son, in another area, is something of a dumpster diver. People living in his block of flats are idiots. One of the things he pulled out of the recycling bin was a strip of fairy lights - still lit. He spent ages sorting out the bin because the council had refused to empty it.

2021 it was 51% That is for our borough, the whole of Gloucester will be different as some areas are not as good as others. Our area recycles a lot more than some places as they have a different system to Gloucester itself.

Quite a few of the plastic containers fruit and meat come in, aren't actually recyclable - but it doesn't obviously say it on them.

In our borough it is around 55% at the kerbside, and there are two recycling centres also which are very good for bigger loads, household, everything really.

Collection is fortnightly, one week ordinary the next recycling so we have an ordinary bin, a bin for bottles/cans and recycleable plastics, a bin for green garden waste, a bag for cardboard and a small food bin ( borough recycled 354 tonnes of food waste last year).You can also bag up batteries & clothes and put those out on recycling bin day.

So with all the recycling we do, shouldn't it be higher?
Maybe its the recycling centres that don't maybe sort it properly?

Rambling 354 tonnes of food waste? Imagine how many starving people that would have fed? 55 % is pretty good and the best so far I think.

This week, we have been eating out the fridge and freezer using up everything that has been lurking so nothing gets thrown away. Our fridge is actually nearly empty.

The recycle rate here is 49.5.

From the small sample reported here, it seems that, in general, towns and cities, with more and different kinds of bins provided, have higher percentages than large rural areas with fewer options.
Which is probably not surprising.

Not sure how you come to that conclusion. For example, In my largely rural area, with lots of bins, boxes, bags etc we get around 50%.
Son doesn’t live in a rural area and theirs is around 30%. This is an area that puts all the recycling in one bin, although houses also get a good recycling box.

Ours was 56.2% in 2021-22, it went up from the previous year. We've got a number of bins/boxes but it's all collected each week, apart from general refuse which is every 3 weeks. I put less in general refuse than I used to at our previous home.

I wouldn't have any 'food waste', as all my vegetable waste goes in the compost bin - along with eggshells, and crushed mussel shells.

I also eat everything on my plate!

Argyll gran, I am in a remote rural area and we have 4 bins including one for glass. so I am very surprised our percentage isn't higher as all I ever see are blue recycling bins overflowing so we as householders must be doing something right.

Florence, if your area expects you to sort into groups and someone puts the wrong thin in then the whole load can be rejected and go into general waste.