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Frequently Asked Questions

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Why are plastics difficult to recycle?

Of all the materials recycled nationally, plastic is the most difficult due to being both high volume and light-weight. This makes it very expensive to collect and transport. In addition, the UK market for plastic reprocessing is largely limited to a few specific types of plastic bottle. Plastic bottle recycling is therefore carried out only where facilities are available for the separation of the bottles into different types of plastic.

Why can´t coloured paper and cardboard be recycled with newspapers and magazines?

Paper, such as newspapers, magazines and white `office´ type paper, is made up of white paper fibres and is used for making newsprint and new paper. If coloured paper or cardboard gets mixed in with the white paper, it contaminates the mix resulting in a weaker strength of paper with coloured patches in it. This will result in the paper mill rejecting any load of `contaminated´ paper. Coloured paper, brown envelopes without windows and cardboard can be recycled in cardboard banks. This can then be made into new cardboard and paper bags.

Why can´t we recycle batteries?

Household Batteries(AA, AAA)

You can! Until recently there were no general household battery recycling facilities in the UK. This meant that any separately collected batteries had to be sent to the continent for recycling. However, new UK facilities mean that, since Christmas 2005, household battery collection bins have been placed in all 15 Community Recycling Centres (civic amenity sites or tips). Household batteries, both single use and rechargeable, that are placed in these bins are taken for reprocessing and recycling here in Britain.

Other Batteries

  • NiCad rechargeable batteries - a number of manufacturers take their own makes back for recycling. VARTA NiCad batteries can be sent to VARTA, FREEPOST 154, Staines, Middlesex.
  • Silver oxide cells - used in watches, calculators and some cameras. These are valuable because of the silver content and so most jewellers will accept them back for recycling.
  • Mercuric oxide hearing aid batteries - are now phased out, but old ones should be returned to the NHS via your local hospital, who will ensure safe disposal.
  • Car Batteries can be recycled in the special containers at your local Community recycling centre (Civic Amenity Site/ Dump)
  • For further information contact the British Battery Manufacturers´ Association on 020 7838 4800.

What should we do with Yellow Pages and telephone directories?

In Surrey there are four different change-over periods for new editions of Yellow Pages that affects a different selection of boroughs each time. Each borough has their own method of collecting the old Yellow Pages that varies across the county. Therefore contact Surrey Waste Management or your local borough council, for details of the directory collection facilities available in your area. Please note that directories cannot be put in the paper or cardboard banks at the civic amenity sites operated by Surrey Waste Management because they have a very high ink content, which requires a lot of paper dye to remove. The spine of the directory also has to be removed making the process more complex and the paper is very thin and of a poor quality making it difficult to reuse.

Why do recycling services differ between borough councils?

Local councils are operated under the instruction of locally elected councillors who aim to provide services that meet their residents´ needs. Therefore refuse and recycling services, provided by local councils, are planned and implemented at different rates and in different ways, according to spending priorities. The distance from reprocessing facilities also has a major effect - for instance a borough, which is mainly urban and is located near to a paper mill, can provide paper recycling at a lower cost than a rural borough located some distance from a paper mill, due to the high cost of collection and transportation.

What should I do with blue and red glass?

Blue and red glass is difficult to recycle as the colour can easily contaminate other colours. It is very important to carefully separate clear and brown glass as these are easily contaminated. Contamination would result in the glass having to be disposed of in a landfill site. A small quantity of blue or red glass can be mixed with the green glass as this does not affect the end colour to a great extent.

Can Pyrex, green house glass, drinks glasses and light bulbs be recycled?

Pyrex, green house glass, drinks glasses and light bulbs cannot be recycled. They are made from glass with a different melting point and chemical composition and therefore contaminate the glass containers. If included, they produce weak points in the new glass containers produced, which would make them unsafe to use.

Can jars as well as bottles be recycled?

Glass jam jars and glass bottles can be recycled in glass collection banks. Pyrex, ceramics, greenhouse glass, drinks glasses, light bulbs and spectacles must not be put in the banks.

Why shouldn´t I put green garden waste in the refuse bin - surely it´s best to put things that rot into landfill?

When green garden waste is put out with general refuse it is collected and sent to landfill. Green waste decomposes producing a liquid and a gas in the process. As the liquid mixes with the other waste in the landfill, such as batteries, cleaning equipment, metals etc it becomes toxic. This liquid is called leachate, and will pollute watercourses should it escape from the landfill. The gas produced is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. Not only does this contribute to climate change, but it can also make the landfill site unstable making the aftercare of the site very expensive. Therefore, from an environmental point of view it is better to compost your green waste at home. If this is not possible, it can be taken for centralised composting at your local Community recycling centre (Civic Amenity Site/ dump).

Can I recycle my households sensitive/ confidential paperwork?

It is advisable to be security conscious when recycling sensitive information in the paper banks. For instance, it would be wise to tear up papers containing bank details so that they cannot be easily retrieved from the collection bank. The same security advice applies to using the kerbside recycling service and the refuse wheelie bin. Once both are in the collection vehicles the contents are potentially secure, however the time your waste spends outside your house waiting for collection should be considered.

Can I recycle shredded paper?

Yes, but only at collection points where shredded paper is accepted.

When paper is shredded the fiber lengths within it are shortened and therefore new paper made out of 100% shredded paper is of inferior quality and not suitable for the production of high grade office paper. Another disadvantage is that shredded paper due to its small size tends to fly around and clog up the mechanics of the conveyer belt feeding the mill and causing disruptions to the smooth running of the process.

There are, however, paper mills that use shredded paper to make products that do not need to be of such high quality such as tissues. There are also some mills that mix shredded paper pulp with virgin pulp to make printing paper. These mills also have processing systems that are unaffected by bits of flying paper.

Thus the collection of shredded paper for recycling depends on the requirements of the paper mill where it is taken to be reprocessed. So please read the instructions on the collection banks or refer to your local borough council before placing it in the recycling banks or the kerbside collection boxes.

Can broken bottles and jars be recycled?

Broken bottles and glass are accepted in bottle banks as this is what will happen to them during the recycling process anyway. There are a number of things that are not accepted in bottle banks whether broken or not. The items that cannot be accepted are:

  • Window panes
  • Light bulbs
  • Pyrex (or visionware) cooking dishes
  • Glass crockery
  • Crystal
  • White opaque bottles
  • Laboratory and medical glass

The reason these items are rejected from the loads is due to the fact that they melt at a higher temperature to normal glass. This means that when the furnace melts the glass, pieces of the unacceptable material will be left unchanged and will ruin the quality of any bottles etc made from it.

Do I need to wash out my bottles etc before putting them out for recycling?

It is better to wash bottles and jars to keep their storage and collection hygienic, however paper and labels can be left on. Rinse bottles out when washing up to save wasting water.

Can businesses recycle waste as well as householders?

Commercial premises can certainly recycle a wide range of materials. They can organise a recycling merchant to collect the material from the premises. Advice on organising this is available in the Waste Wise Business Manual and on the website www.egeneration.co.uk/surrey. It is worth noting that the commercial organisations must pay for the collection and disposal of their waste and are therefore not allowed to take waste to Household Waste & Recycling Sites or use local household recycling banks as these services are paid for by the tax payer. If all businesses used the household waste services the cost to the taxpayer would go up.

Why can´t we recycle 100% of our rubbish?

There is no proven technology which takes household waste in its unsorted form and converts it into material that can be re-used. There will always be waste residues or materials, which would not have any reasonably economic use. It would certainly be a huge step forward if everyone in the county recycled their papers, magazines, glass and cans as the amount of waste sent for disposal would decrease. Everyone, as well as recycling, can help to reduce the amount of rubbish they put out for disposal by composting garden and kitchen scraps, by reusing or repairing household goods and by shopping carefully to avoid over packaging and disposable goods. If everyone `Reduced, Reused and Recycled´ we could reduce the amount thrown away in Surrey by 60%.

Are goods made from recycled materials poorer quality?

Not at all. The recycling industries work to tight specification to ensure their products are of high quality. The perception of poor quality has in some cases steered people away from the product, which has the knock on effect on keeping the prices high. There are many examples of everyday recycled product used where the consumer has little idea of the products former life - for example beer bottles and newspapers.