PLASTIC FREE JULY: DAY 12

Day Twelve:

If you are already pretty good at recycling you will know that you have to remove lids from bottles before placing them in the recycle bin...

BUT...

...DID YOU KNOW...

YOU CAN NOW RECYCLE THE LIDS TOO! :-)

It is now recommended to place all plastic lids in a large plastic bottle (i.e. fabric softener or 2L milk bottle) and once the bottle is full you can place it in the recycle bin. This way the small lids don't get stuck in the sorting conveyer belts as they would if loose. And can now be recycled too with same plastics.

You can do this for steel and aluminium lids as well. Steel lids will be magnetic (you can test them using a magnet) and can be placed in steel tins (also magnetic), once the tin is nearly full you can clamp it shut and place in recycle bin. Aluminium lids are not magnetic and should be placed in aluminium cans. Just make sure that all the steel lids as well as the tin are magnetic and all the aluminium lids as well as the can are not magnetic so as not to mix steel with aluminium. 

I have two empty glass jars at the kitchen window-sill, one labelled magnetic and one labelled non-magnetic. Each time I take a lid off a bottle I test it and place it in the right jar. Once the jar is full I put the lids in the correct can that I have saved and rinsed for this purpose. When the can is full enough, I clamp it shut and put it in the recycle bin. Easy!

Re-think your thinking...