Recycle

Recycling reduces the demand for raw materials. By recovering materials from old products we are removing or reducing the need to extract yet more raw materials from the earth.

Before you go shopping at the supermarket find out what packaging you can recycle by looking at the on-pack-recycling scheme website. (English only site)

The key objectives of the scheme are to:

• help more consumers to recycle more packaging; and
• help Local Authorities and others to increase recycling rates for those materials that could be recycled, but that currently have low collection and recycling rates.

If you don't recycle, your black bag waste will be landfilled – what a waste!.

Here's some facts:

• 1.7 million tonnes of municipal waste (excluding abandoned vehicles) was produced in 2008-9

Where does it all go?

• Just over 36% of household waste is reused recycled or composted - we're getting better but still need to do more.
• Less than 1% is used to recover heat and power
• Over 63% is still landfilled – it is buried in the ground. Dealing with our rubbish in this way is not sustainable because it wastes energy and materials, and land and natural resources are running out.
• In Wales, it is estimated we have only 7 years worth of landfill space remaining!

When we bury our rubbish we are loosing valuable natural resources and wasting the energy, water and transport costs used in its production. The only sustainable answer to the problem is to recycle our waste.

Materials from recycling collections all over Wales are sent to materials recycling facilities (MRF). As householders have enabled clean materials of the same type to reach the MRF, they can be collected in bulk and often compacted further before they are transported for recycling into new products! Some of the energy that would have been used in producing ‘virgin’ materials will be saved due to householders recycling more of their waste.




Useful links:

To find out more about where and what to recycle, please visit our interactive bring bank locator by adding your post code, town or city.

Click here for the Welsh Assembly Government's Municipal Waste Management page 

To find out what kerbside recycling services your local council run, please visit the ‘In your area' part of our website