Cardboard and Paper
Less than half the paper used in the UK is recovered; over 5 million tonnes goes to landfill. As world demand for paper increases, so does the amount of land given over to sustainable forestry, growing trees to produce wood pulp to make paper. The recycling of waste paper limits the amount of wildlife habitat lost to 'agriforestry'. More importantly, the amount of waste paper disposed of in landfill sites is reduced.

When paper and cardboard is buried in landfill it breaks down into harmful greenhouse gases.Therefore reducing the quantity of paper and cardboard disposed of in landfill sites reduces global warming.

Additionally, for every tonne of paper recycled, energy consumption is reduced by 4200 KWh (this equates to boiling 84,000 kettles) and water consumption by 7,000 gallons (enough for an average household for six months).

Recycling cardboard allows us to remove up to 18% of the waste stream and to recycle coloured paper such as Yellow Pages" as these can be sold to cardboard mills where the removal of the colour with expensive bleaching processes is not necessary.

Recycling plastics is very difficult. For it to work, we should all understand that there are many types of plastics or polymers. Many of which can in theory be recycled but....We can only recycle PLASTIC BOTTLES.

Rejected Polymers
Once collected for recycling, the various types of plastic must be separated into individual types and then compacted and baled. Upon shipment to reprocessors, uncontaminated plastic is shredded or chipped into pellets. The pellets are then melted down for moulding into new products such as fiberfill for sleeping bags, flower pots, fleece jackets, compost bins, garden furniture, toys or containers for non-food products. However, entire bales of plastic can be rejected as unclean or 'contaminated' if the bales contain the wrong type of polymer. So please do not put 'other types' of plastic into the recycling bin.

The ability to find buyers for certain types of plastics dictates whether it is worthwhile collecting them. Presently, there are only viable markets for the sorts of plastics found in  bottles, and it is essential that we limit our collections to these products only. To ensure that these markets remain healthy, we must present high quality, uncontaminated and clean materials, so please limit your plastic recycling to bottles. In the future, we may be able to add to this list as markets develop for other forms of plastic.

DRINKS CANS & FOOD TINS
Food tins and drinks cans are made from either aluminium or steel, both of which can be recycled indefinitely without damaging their respective structures.

Aluminium
Aluminium is not a scarce resource, making up 8% of the Earth's crust. However, recycling it produces 95% savings in energy and reduces emissions by 99%. Recycling 1kg of aluminium saves 8kg of bauxite (the ore found in the earth which is quarried to produce aluminium), 4kg of chemical products and 14 KW of electricity. Nearly 60% of aluminium used in the UK has previously been recycled. Over 75% of drinks cans are made from aluminium, each with a recycled content of approximately 50%.

The UK gets through over 5 billion aluminium drinks cans each year and, if these were all recycled, there would be 12 million fewer full dustbins each year.

Steel
Recycling steel saves up to 75% in energy use and gives a 40% reduction in water consumption. Making new steel from recycled steel reduces the demand for raw materials and polluting emissions are reduced by up to 80%.

This is equivalent to 13 billion. If we placed the number of steel cans that are recycled end-to-end, the line would stretch to the moon and back more than three times.