3 Reasons for you to start Recycling TODAY! No more excuses!
Category Home Tips And Tricks
Recycling has become convenient so you should have no excuses as to why you don’t. With recycling companies like Whole Earth (www.wholeearth.co.za) and others that collect directly from your house you simply can’t not.
It’s Easy
Place all your recyclable materials (listed below) into one blue bag that is collected outside your home, it is that easy. Do some research as to who collects in your area and how they operate. They do all the sorting!
It halves your regular waste
If you start placing all your recyclable materials into the blue bag you will have much less regular waste. Why not also use a Bokashi bin (that you can buy from your local nursery) for your vegetable cuttings and organic material. This will also minimise your waste, cut down on odor and you can use the juices to grow more organic vegetables.
It teaches you and your kids
Kids follow by example, if you instil good habits, your children and their friends can learn from your actions.
Spread the word
When you have visitors in your home, teach them how the recycling system works to spread the knowledge. If it is easy and uncomplicated more people will cotton on.
Here are some recyclables from Whole Earth:
The following items CAN be placed into your blue bags for recycling:
- Cardboard boxes used for packaging as well as cereal boxes, biscuit boxes and cardboard sleeves around food packaging.
- Egg boxes.
- Newspapers, magazines, telephone books and flyers.
- White office paper (printed or blank) and colourful paper.
- Cartons such as Tetra Pak e.g. long life milk cartons and juice cartons.
- Plastic bottles and plastic bottle caps i.e. water or cold drink plastic bottles, plastic milk bottles as well as bottles used for shampoo and cleaning agents. Please ensure that these are emptied of any liquids.
- Margarine, butter and ice cream tubs. Please ensure that these do not have residual food waste in them.
- Soft plastic bags such as shopping bags, frozen vegetable bags, milk bags and soft bread bags. The general rule of thumb is that if a plastic bag makes a crackling sound when you scrunch it in your hand then it can’t be recycled, but if it is a soft plastic bag it can be recycled.
- Hot chocolate and other similar plastic containers.
- Polystyrene (as long as it is clean and dry) used to package appliances etc.
- Tin foil and foil trays- please ensure that these do not have residual food waste in them.
- Food and beverage cans (both steel and aluminium) as well as aerosols- please ensure that these do not have residual food waste or liquids in them.
- Glass bottles and glass jars (including the metal lids).
- Computers, printers, CPU’, washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, freezers, telephones and telephone wires.
- Thick yogurt containers and feta cheese containers with a number 5 symbol on them i.e.
The following items CAN’T be placed into your blue bags for recycling:
- NO Food or garden waste- this is organic waste and can be placed in a compost heap or a Bokashi bin in order to make compost for your garden.
- NO Dog food bags, cat food bags or washing powder bags (they are a combination of plastic and foil that cannot be separated for recycling).
- NO Chip packets, chocolate wrappers, sweet wrappers or cereal packets.
- NO Transparent food packaging unless they have a number 2 or number 5 symbol on them i.e. OR . Transparent food packaging such as transparent muffin trays, transparent salad trays and transparent sandwich containers are not even recycled in Europe.
- NO Batteries or lightbulbs- these are classified as hazardous waste and can be safely disposed of in receptacles at the entrance of your local Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay. If they end up at landfill the chemicals that they contain can leach into our ground water and drinking water.
- NO Sanitary wear, nappies or medical waste such as syringes (especially not with needles).
- NO Clothing or other material items.
The following is usually a good guideline when it comes to recycling plastic:
- Only plastic bottles marked with a “1” can be recycled, not the food containers marked with a “1”. Apparently it has to do with different melting points. They don’t even recycle PET food containers in Europe.
- All plastic bottles and food containers marked with a “2” or “5” can be recycled.
- Number “3” is PVC and when it is burned it releases toxic dioxins so it currently cannot be recycled. It appears that PVC is eventually going to be phased out of the packaging industry.
- Number “4” can be recycled. It is PE-LD and examples of products made from this type of plastic are frozen vegetable bags, shopping bags, milk sachets and soft bottles.
- Number “6” (polystyrene) can also be recycled as long as it is clean and dry i.e. not contaminated with food waste or sauce etc. Please remove the cling wrap from your trays before placing them into your blue recycling bags as they are made from a different kind of plastic.
Whole Earth Recycling
Kabusha Green (Pty) Ltd T/A Whole Earth Recycling
7 Tungsten Road, Strijdom Park, Randburg, Johannesburg
T E L : 011 791 4537
Director: Carmen Rayner
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