This table shows you exactly what kinds of paper you can and
cannot put in your green box:
Yes Please |
No Thanks |
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- Junk Mail (remove plastic wrapping)
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- Food packaging (cartons, bags etc)
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- White and coloured office paper & white envelopes
(including windows)
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- White based wrapping paper and paper thin greetings
cards
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- Small amounts of white shredded paper - no more than 2
carrier bags at a time
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Can I put envelopes with windows in for
recycling?
You can put envelopes in for recycling even if they have
windows. You also do not need to remove any staples to
recycle the paper.
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Can I put in paper with staples?
You also do not need to remove any staples to recycle the
paper.
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Can I recycle shredded paper?
We can collect small amounts of shredded paper for recycling but
must be careful not to overfill the vehicle. Please
only put it out in small amounts at a time.
Cardboard and brown paper can be collected free of
charge as part of our Cardboard & Garden Waste collection
service. See
Cardboard & Garden Waste Collections.
Cardboard can also be taken to all 3 of our
Recycling Centres.
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Can I recycle drinks cartons?
We have 5 recycling banks where you can take your drinks cartons
for recycling. Please rinse and flatten.
- Morrisons, Bath
- Tesco, Norton Radstock
- Radco car park, Norton Radstock
- Co-op, Keynsham
- Pixash Lane Recycling Centre, Keynsham
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Plastic bottles have been collected for recycling in parts of
Bath & North East Somerset since the early 1990s when it was
one of the first places in the UK to do this. The whole district
was receiving this service by 2002.
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What kinds of plastic are collected via the Green Box recycling
collections?
We only collect plastic bottles, but these can be any kind of
bottle including drinks, cleaning products and sauces. The type of
plastic the bottle is made from is not important.
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How should the plastic bottles be presented?
The phrase to remember is ‘tops off, wash and squash.
Bottles with their tops on will not compact and when the bottles
are baled the bales can fall apart or even explode because of
this.
Loose tops are too small to be handled efficiently and can fall
through the sides of the recycling cages on the trucks causing
litter problems.
As with other materials it helps the Collectors if the plastics
can be placed together in the green box, in an open carrier bag if
that makes things easier.
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Why don’t you collect other plastics like carrier bags, yoghurt
pots, meat trays etc – most of these have a recycling symbol on
them?
We know that many residents would like to recycle more types of
plastic packaging as well as bottles, but there are a number of
reasons why we haven’t introduced this yet.
There is currently a lack of stable markets that we can sell the
mixed plastic (i.e. bottles and other packaging) waste to. At the
moment the only market available for recycling mixed plastics is in
Asia, and we have very little factual information about what would
happen to the material once it gets there.
We will only collect materials for recycling that have a
definite outlet and have never knowingly disposed of any materials
collected for recycling. The public trust us to recycle as we say
we will and we will not collect a material that may have to be sent
for landfill in 6 months’ time when the market disappears.
Plastics are expensive to collect because they take up a lot of
space on the vehicles. If we collected more plastic the vehicles
would have to return to the depot to tip more often and so less
houses could be serviced per truck each day. This means we would
need more trucks and people to collect from everyone which of
course costs more money, and uses more fuel. Every truck and extra
crew needed will cost the Council over £40,000 per year to operate
and run.
We are looking at how we can improve the design of our
collection vehicles to expand our range at the lowest cost
possible
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Can I recycle my plastic carrier bags?
Carrier bags can be recycled at some supermarkets, they are
recycled commercially as part of those companies’ commercial waste
management system. If we collected plastic bags there would be
serious volume problems on the trucks as outlined above and they
would be difficult for us to bale.
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Don’t other councils collect all plastics?
A recent survey of 434 Councils in the UK by Jennie Rogers of
David Davies Associates showed that:
- 15% don’t collect any plastics at all
- 21% collect plastics only at bring banks and not from the
kerbside
- 57% collect plastic bottles only, at the kerbside (like
us)
- 5% of Councils collect plastic bottles and other containers at
the kerbside
- 5% collect all plastic except polystyrene from the
kerbside
We are the only Council in the local area who collect plastic
bottles from the kerbside.
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What happens to the plastic bottles once they are
collected?
The bottles are fed via a conveyor onto a sorting line, contrary
materials picked up during collection are removed and the bottles
are then baled.
Bales are sent in loads of around 15 tonnes (the weight of 3
elephants) to reprocessing companies in the UK and are made into
items such as drainage pipes, recycling boxes and compost bins.
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What will happen in the future?
We are always looking for ways to increase the amount of
material that we recycle, but we will only introduce a service to
the public once stable and reliable markets are established.
This will ensure that we can offer a consistent service to our
residents rather than introducing then withdrawing a service.
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How can I produce less plastic waste?
It is difficult to eliminate all plastic waste produced as it is
part of so much packaging, but doing things like re-using carrier
bags and buying produce loose (or in compostable paper bags) will
help reduce this waste in the first place. Buying longer-lasting
products and avoiding disposable items such as razors where
possible also helps.
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Green Box Recycling
Everything that we collect for recycling is recycled back into
many different products. To find out what happens to
each of the materials we collect see
What happens to the green box materials?
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What day is my collection?
To find out your collection day, please go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/myarea or contact Council Connect
on 01225 39 40 41, email councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk
.
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How should I put my recycling out for
collection?
You can put your material out for recycling in any suitable
container providing you put it at the edge of your property where
it is visible and accessible by 8am on the day of collection.
We can provide large and small recycling boxes free of charge on
request to help you with your recycling.
To request a green box, please contact Council Connect on 01225
39 40 41, or via email at councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk
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How do I report a missed bin?
Please check that other boxes in your road have been collected
and check for information in your box before calling to report it
missed.
Although the time of collection is broadly the same each week,
we cannot guarantee this. It is important to make sure your
recycling is put out by 8am on the correct collection day.
Contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or email councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk
Providing you report a missed collection by the end of the next
working day, we can send the crews back to collect your
recycling.
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How do I request an assisted collection?
If you are not capable of moving your recycling to the edge of
your property and there is no-one else living with you who can
help, we can arrange an
assisted collection.
Please contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or email
councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk for
an application form.
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What happens to the recycling collections during Bank
Holidays?
Recycling collections are not affected by Bank Holidays and will
continue as normal. The only exceptions are Christmas Day and
Boxing Day where you will need to wait until the following week to
have your recycling collected.
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What can I recycle in my green box?
We collect 14 different items in the green box including paper,
Yellow Pages, glass bottles and jars, food and drinks cans,
aerosols, plastic bottles, foil, clothes and shoes, batteries, car
batteries, engine oil, mobile phones, ink and toner cartridges and
spectacles.
You do not need to remove labels as they will be removed in
the recycling process. Simply remove the lids and rinse out
your cans and bottles.
Please try and keep the materials seperate in the recycling box.
This makes the service much more efficient as the crews sort the
items as they are collected. Carrier bags can be used for this, or
materials can be stacked at each end of the box.
For more information on the green box collections, please go to
Recycling Collections.
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Electrical and Electronic
Equipment
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How can I recycle electrical and electronic
equipment?
We currently collect a number of items for reuse at the
Recycling Centres including cookers, washing machines, videos,
hi-fis and microwaves. We also take televisions and computer
monitors ( with cathode ray tubes inside, not the flat screen
types), fridges and freezers for recycling.
The following options are also available to help you recycle
specific electrical, electronic and related items.
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Where can I recycle old computers and other electrical
equipment?
- Colin Skirton 01225 423810 – takes 486’s and above – mends and
gives to disabled people living in the Bath area.
- Computers for African Schools 0117 9248549 – take
486’s/pentiums and above to send out to African schools. Will
collect if there are sufficient numbers.
- Avon Youth Association 01454 868371 – takes 386’s/pentiums and
above for use in community projects. Will collect if there are
sufficient numbers.
- Computers for Life 0117 9392543 – provide used computers to
cerebral palsy clients
Other charities may also take these goods. Look in the
Yellow Pages.
These can be put in your green recycling box where they are
collected by Action Aid for recycling. Alternatively many
charities collect mobile phones for recycling.
These can be put in your green recycling box where they are
collected by Action Aid for recycling. Please note that we
cannot take used printer and toner cartridges from businesses.
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If you have good quality items of furniture and household
appliances that you want collecting, The SOFA Project or Genesis
Furniture Trust may be able to collect them free of charge at their
discretion for reuse. See Who Should I
Contact? below.
Other large items can be collected by the Council who will
separate them out for recycling and reuse where this is possible.
There is a charge for this special bulky
waste collection service.
You can also bring furniture and household appliances to the
Recycling Centres, where they will be assessed and separated for
possible reuse and recycling.
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Why do you not recycle panes of glass?
Different types of glass are made from different ingredients and
recipes that cannot be mixed. We can recycle all glass bottles and
jars as they are made to the same recipe. However, we cannot
take other types of glass as there are not adequate
facilities for recycling them.
Yes, there are recycling bins in a range of high
street stores including Robert Dyas, Argos, Cargo, Comet,
Sainsbury's, Homebase, Asda, and Makro. Other major retailer
collection points will be following soon.
The BRITA branded bins will be located next to the existing
water filter category in store. Customers can recycle any
BRITA consumer product filter cartridge, including those for the
new BRITA water filter taps.
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Each year we throw away up to 500,000 tonnes of disposable
nappies, accounting for 2-3% of all domestic waste. This costs
Councils up to £40 million every year to dispose of and is the
equivalent in weight to 70,000 double decker buses.
By choosing to use reusable nappies, you can help to reduce the
impact made by disposable nappies and can potentially make
significant cost savings. There are many different types of
reusable nappies to choose from and there are nappy laundry
services available for those who would prefer not to wash them at
home.
For further information please go to our page on
Real Nappies
You can also get more detailed information about re-usable
nappies including details of local suppliers by visiting the
Real Nappy
Campaign website.
Please note that we do not operate an incentive scheme for real
nappies.
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What can I do with hazardous items of waste?
Hazardous materials like household or garden
chemicals can be taken to the Recycling Centres where
they will be disposed of safely. Some common
items are now classed as hazardous such as televisions and computer
monitors, fridges & freezers and fluorescent tubes and there
are facilities for recycling these at the Recycling
Centres. If in doubt, please see a site attendant for
guidance, or contact Council Connect ahead of your
visit.
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How can schools get involved in recycling?
The Council offers recycling collections to all schools in Bath
& North East Somerset and can also provide free compost
bins.
The Waste Services team can also provide a range of activities
and assemblies to help promote recycling in schools. For more
information, go to
School Recycling.
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As a business, how can I recycle my waste?
The Council can only collect from private
households. Waste and recycling collections are not
covered by business rates so businesses have to make their own
arrangements for dealing with their waste. However, the Council
does offer a chargeable collection service for businesses and
can provide advice on other options. For further information
see Commercial
Waste.
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All the rubbish that you throw in your rubbish bin is dumped in
landfill sites. None of this is recycled. Only the
material that you separate for recycling in your green box , garden
waste wheeled bin or paper sack, or at the Recycling Centres can be
recycled.
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For leaflets and all general enquiries, please
contact Council Connect (Tel: 01225 39 40 41) (SMS: 07797
806544) councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk
For good quality items of furniture and household appliances
suitable for reuse, please contact The SOFA Project (Tel: 0117 954
3567). (info@sofaproject.org.uk)
(http://www.sofaproject.org.uk/site/1.asp).
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The Genesis Furniture Project
For good quality items of furniture and household appliances
suitable for reuse, please contact The Genesis Furniture Project
(Tel: 01225 421111)(furniture@genesistrust.org.uk)
(www.genesistrust.org.uk)
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