Waste and Recycling Guide 2017

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE Find out how you can save money, save resources and reduce the amount you waste.

REDUCE SHOPPING

How to reduce your food waste Plan your meals ahead, make a list to take shopping with you and only buy the food you need.

Reduce your plastic bag use Take bags with you when you go shopping, its reduces the number of plastic bags being issued and saves you money.

Help reduce packaging • Buy your fruit and vegetables loose • Buy concentrated fruit juice and washing up liquid • Purchase items in packaging that you can easily recycle (for example, in your green recycling bin).

Reduce your journeys Use local shops where possible. This helps to support local businesses and will reduce how often you use your car.

Have your shopping delivered Supermarkets will deliver to multiple houses in the area, reducing the amount of fuel being used.

REDUCE SHOPPING

Love Food Hate Waste Visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for recipe ideas, tips on using leftovers and storage ideas to keep food fresher for longer. To make use of your left overs, visit the site and select your leftover ingredients and look through the options.

Portion sizes All too often we cook too much food. Think carefully about the size of your portions and, if you have leftovers, why not keep these for lunch the next day?

Freezer food

Use your freezer to make food last longer. This applies to fresh food and leftovers. You can freeze these until you plan to use them.

Always check that the food is suitable for freezing.

BES T BE FOR E

Use by dates/best before • Use by - Do not eat this food after the ‘Use by’ date displayed.

• Best before - Food can be eaten beyond this date (excluding eggs) • Display before - These dates relate to the shops only and can • be ignored.

REDUCE -

NAPPIES AND MAIL Disposable nappies

A large amount of the waste collected each week is nappies. You can help prevent this by using re-usable nappies which are much better for the environment.

Reusable nappies come in a wide range of colours and materials which are both easy to wash and use.

Visit www.goreal.org.uk for more details.

Please do not put nappies in the green recycling bin.

Junk Mail

To reduce junk mail register at the Mailing Preference Service: www.mpsonline.org.uk and your name will be removed from up to 95% of direct mailing lists.

Bills

Sign up to ebilling to receive your bills. Most companies now offer this option. It saves paper and can also save you money.

RECYCLING -

Please ensure items are clean and loose

AT HOME

What can I recycle in my green recycling bin? · Plastic Bottles (with the lids) · Paper (including shredded and envelopes) · Card · Aerosols(please ensure the aerosol is empty first) · Tins and cans · Glass bottles and jars (with the lids) · Waxed food and drinks cartons · Aluminium foil and foil trays · Food plastic pots, tubs and trays .

Why can I only recycle certain items?

We can only recycle items which companies need to make new products. Putting the wrong items in the recycling bin is known as ‘contamination’. If the contamination can’t be removed then whole vehicle loads may be disposed of as waste.

Items with the triangular recycling symbol on them cannot always be put in your green recycling bin.

Please only put the items listed above in your green bin.

The sorting process Materials Recycling Hand Removal of Non-recyclables

Sorting Screens

Various sorting screens separate all 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional items using cylinders that rotate at different speeds

Attempts are made to remove large non-recyclable items by hand.

Glass Clean-up

ant Import ation Inform Placing non-recyclable

Glass is smashed, filtered out and recycled

items in the bin disrupts the sorting processes and can result in large quantities of recyclable material being wasted.

Car

Cartons a alongsid and

at the Facility

rtons

ant Import ation Inform To enable the various sorting methods to be effective, clean, dry recyclable materials must be placed loosely in your recycling bin.

Paper/card

Quality checks take place here

are recycled de the paper d card

Mixed Plastics Hand Sorting Hand separation of the mixed plastic food containers

Magnetic Sorting

Aluminium and steel food and drinks cans are separated using an electromagnet

Plastic Bottle Removal

Plastics are optically scanned then plastic bottles and milk bottles are filtered onto another line

REUSE -

CHARITIES, EVENTS AND WEBSITES Support Charity Shops Have a clear out and take your unwanted items to a local charity shop.

Freegle Visit www.norfolkfreegle.org to reuse your unwanted items.

You may also find something you need ...for free!

Reuse Shelters Norfolk County Council run a ‘reuse shelter’ at the Ketteringham Recycling Centre. See www.norfolk.gov.uk/ rubbish-recycling-and-planning/rubbish-and-recycling for all reuse sites.

Post Reuse envelopes you receive. Cross out the previous address and use it again.

Friends and Family If you have anything that you don’t want, then why not see if your friends or family want it. You could even hold a ‘swap party’ with your friends at www.swishing.com.

Reuse Events South Norfolk Council holds multiple reuse and recycling events. Visit www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/reuse-andrecycle-events for details about our next event or to find out details of how to organise your own event.

REPAIR -

ITEMS AT HOME A simple repair can help save you money and reduce waste.

Textiles Look out for local workshops for undertaking repairs.

Visit www.loveyourclothes.org.uk for advice on washing, repairing, altering and upcycling your clothes.

Electrical items Replacing electrical items can be expensive. A simple repair may be all that is needed and could be carried out by a local shop or electrician.

Furniture Why not try upcycling broken/unwanted furniture? Search online for some innovative, simple ideas.

COMPOSTING GARDEN WASTE SCHEME

Your garden waste can be composted at home or collected by our garden waste service for an annual charge. We cannot accept garden waste in your black or green bin.

All garden waste collected is turned into compost locally and used to improve the environment in our district.

What can go into the bin? · Grass cuttings · Hedge trimmings · Small branches (4” diameter) · Fallen leaves

· Twigs and weeds · Plant prunings · Cut flowers

We can’t accept: bags, fencing, soil, cardboard or anything contaminated with honey fungus.

For further details or if you would like to order a Garden Waste bin please visit: www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/garden-waste or call 01508 533830.

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COMPOSTING - AT HOME

Where to get composters A range of home composters, caddies, water butts, wormeries and accessories are available to help you compost at home.

Visit www.getcomposting.com for more information.

Community compost schemes There are voluntary local schemes to compost household waste.

For more information visit www.communitycompost.org.uk What to compost at home With a home composter you can recycle some of your food waste along with your garden waste.

Try to get 50/50 split between greens and browns.

Greens - uncooked fruit and vegetables, plant prunings, grass, tea bags.

Browns - paper, leaves, cardboard egg boxes Things to avoid - animal faeces, cooked or raw meat, fish, dairy products.

For more information visit www.homecomposting.org.uk

RECYCLING -

WHERE CAN I RECYCLE MORE?

Household waste and recycling centres

Norfolk County Council operate Recycling Centres across the County. These enable residents to recycle more of their waste and unwanted items, such as electrical goods, furniture, textiles and books.

For a full list and to find your local centre visit: www.norfolk.gov.uk/recyclingcentres

Mini Recycling Centres

South Norfolk Council runs over 100 mini recycling centres across South Norfolk. These offer recycling for glass, cardboard, textiles, toys, books, cooking oil and shoes.

Visit /www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/where-can-i-recycle-more for a list of materials at each site.

Supermarkets

Many supermarkets have their own recycling banks for items such as light bulbs and batteries. Find out what you can recycle at your local supermarket.

Batteries

Large battery distributors (such as supermarkets) are required to provide a collection point for battery recycling. We provide collection points at South Norfolk Council, Long Stratton and at our leisure centres in Diss, Wymondham and Long Stratton.

Textiles Some stores now provide a collection point for old, unwanted clothes.

For a full list of these and for further information visit:

www.south-norfolk.gov.uk