sustainellie

You can usually recycle in household collections:
– Aerosols (remove plastic cap & recycle separately)
– Shampoo & conditioner bottles

You can usually recycle (but not in household collections):
– Contact lenses
– Hand soap bottles
– Glasses / spectacles
– Cloth nappies
– Inhalers
– Toothpaste tubes
– Toothbrushes

You can’t normally recycle:
– Medication (tablets & packaging)
– Wet wipes
– Disposable nappies
– Cotton wool
– Squeezable tubes (e.g. some hand creams & suncreams)

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Aerosols

You can normally recycle these in the household recycling, but if not you’ll be able to recycle them at a Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Should I do anything before recycling?
– make sure it is completely empty
– don’t pierce or flatten it
– remove anything which you can get off easily, such as the lid

Shampoo & Conditioner Bottles

You can normally recycle these in the household recycling, but if not you’ll be able to recycle them at a Household Waste Recycling Centre. Any clear or coloured bottles can be recycled.

Should I do anything before recycling?
– leave the lid on – this will be recycled
– squash bottles to remove space
– empty and rinse bottles (they can contaminate other recyclables, may not be recycled properly, and may damage machinery)
– leave the labels on – these will be removed during the process

Contact Lenses

It is possible to recycle soft contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers through one programme.

Who is organising this? This is organised by the partnership of TerraCycle (a company who works to recycle more difficult items) and Acuvue contact lenses.

Where? You can either print off a free of charge shipping label and then arrange a pick up time with the delivery company UPS or you can drop off your old contact lenses at a Boots Opticians or participating independent opticians, find your nearest one here.

Hand Soap Bottles

You can normally recycle these in the household recycling, but if not you’ll be able to recycle them at a Household Waste Recycling Centre; however this only applies to the bottle though.

Should I do anything before recycling?
– remove the pump (this cannot be recycled)
– leave the lid on – this will be recycled
– squash bottles to remove space
– empty and rinse bottles (they can contaminate other recyclables, may not be recycled properly, and may damage machinery)
– leave the labels on – these will be removed during the process

Glasses / Spectacles

These cannot be put in household recycling, but if they are in good condition, you can give them to a charity shop. There are also often donation boxes in opticians with the glasses being taken to less advantaged countries. You can also send them to Vision Aid Overseas in the post (this does cost £5, but you can recycle 3 pairs of glasses in one package). Vision Aid Overseas also has a search function to allow you to find local recycling centres.

Cloth Nappies

These are designed to be long-lasting, so don’t throw them away just because your child has grown out of them!

If they are still in good condition:
– ask people you know whether they know of anyone who would like them
– take them to your local parenting and baby group or National Childbirth Trust group
– some charities will accept them (best to search online first)
– try sites where you can give away items you no longer need for free (e.g. Freecycle or Freegle)

If they aren’t in good condition:
– cut them up and use the clothes for cleaning
– recycle them in the textiles section of Household Waste Recycling Centres

Inhalers

You can recycle these in some pharmacies, hospitals and doctors with the Complete the Cycle scheme. You can find information about the scheme and find a local place to recycle them on the Glaxo-Smith-Kline website.

Toothpaste Tubes

Squeezable tubes:
These are not normally recyclable in household collections, but Terracycle have a recycling scheme for these! Check here for your local drop off point. Make sure any excess product is removed and the tube is dry before dropping it off.

Hard pump tubes:
These can sometimes be recycled in household recycling – it is best to check your local authorities recycling policy.

Toothbrushes

These can’t be recycled in household recycling, but you can recycle non-electric toothbrushes and the heads of battery or electric-powered toothbrushes using the Terracycle scheme. Find your local drop off point here. The packaging the toothbrush comes in can also be recycled through this scheme.

Medication (Tablets & Packaging)

The tablets cannot be recycled, given away, flushed down the toilet or thrown away. They need to be returned to pharmacies to be got rid of safely. Make sure you only order what you need to avoid this happening as much as possible (and it save the NHS money)!

Blister packs cannot be recycled and should be put in your general packaging. The cardboard box the medication comes in can be recycled in household recycling.

Wet Wipes

You can’t recycle these, so try to avoid buying them whenever possible. You can buy reusable cloths which can be a good substitute. Make sure you don’t flush these down the toilet, even if it says that you can on the packaging.

Disposable Nappies

You can’t recycle these, so try to avoid buying them whenever possible – in the long run cloth nappies are cheaper to use and much better for the environment as they can be reused!

Cotton Wool

You can’t recycle this. You can often use reusable cloth pads instead of cotton wool, so cheaper in the long run! Make sure you don’t flush this down the toilet as it expands and may cause blockages.

Squeezable Tubes

These are difficult to recycle, and so it is unusual for councils to collect them. Check the local authority website to see if they do in your area.

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