How well are we recycling in the UK and could we do better?

A massive seventy percent of every single thing that comes into our home can be recycled. However, we only recycle one-third.

The recycling process conserves natural resources and uses less energy than manufacturing brand new products. UK recycling rates in the UK at the moment are equivalent to taking five million cars off the road and only 30% of our municipal waste is recycled or composted.

In fact, the UK has the third worst recycling rate in the whole of Europe - with only the Greeks and Italians fairing worse than us!

It's never too late to start though - we take a look at all the benefits..

Recycling facts

• Nine out of ten of us now have a kerbside collection scheme.
• Most centres will accept larger waste items such as fridges, freezers, dishwashers, computer equipment and even electrical sex toys.
• Retailers have an obligation to either take your old electrical products back, like fridges and washing machines, or tell you where they can be recycled.
• Over six million electrical items are thrown away every year in the UK. It is estimated that over half of them are still working or could easily be repaired.
• Batteries needn't be thrown away to add to landfill - some councils now take them to be recycled while others provide facilities for recycling. Phone your council to find out.
• Nine out of ten people in England and Wales would recycle more if it was made easier, according to The Environment Agency.
• Dumping rubbish in the ground or in waste mountains releases toxins, rotting rubbish emits explosive gases and polluting liquids and methane emissions contribute to climate change.

Plastic accounts for 7% of the average dustbin - many local authorities recycle bottles, but most will not accept plastic wrapping, yoghurt pots or meat trays. The solution? Buy less plastic!

• European laws are forcing the Government to send less waste to landfill and the landfill tax is rising to deter businesses and local authorities from landfilling waste which could be recycled, according
  to Friends of the Earth.
• The money raised from landfill tax should be used to get our recycling and composting rate up as high as other parts of Europe, such as Flanders in Belgium, which recycles over 70% of household waste, says Friends of the Earth.
• Incinerators need a minimum of rubbish to operate. To meet demand, local authorities are abandoning recycling and waste reduction plans.
• Disposable nappies take 200-500 years to decompose.
• Valpak is the UK's leading provider of compliance and recycling solutions and you'll recognise the name because it's on the recycling boxes provided by your local council.

Take old clothes, shoes homeware and books to a charity shop - one person's junk could be another person's treasure

Take it away
The usual suspects (council collections vary, so check what your local council will take away)

Paper including magazines
Glass bottles and jars.Remember to remove the lids or corks first.

Food waste
Many authorities now collect kitchen waste but if yours doesn't, why not dispose of it in a home composter or for smaller gardens use a wormery.

Garden waste
Many councils now provide a separate bin for trimmings and grass cuttings but if not you can add them to your home composter. Many local authorities provide low cost composting bins.

Cans, tins and foil rinsed and crushed.
Plastic bottles not forgetting those from the bathroom. Rinse them and remove the lids so they can be crushed. If your council doesn't collect them, you find recycling bins for plastic in most supermarket car parks.

Batteries
Batteries are easy to recycle but despite this, 98% of those used in the UK end their lives in the bin. New EU legislation is coming in to help us recycle batteries, but as with most things in the EU, it's taking time.

Carrier bags
Although most kerbside collections won't accept them, many recycling facilities and supermarkets do. Of course, try to reduce the number you use.

Seven steps to recycling
What happens to your recycling once you've put it in the bin?

1. Your recycling material is emptied into the lorry and compressed slightly to fit in as much as possible.
2. At the recycling centre, the lorry tips all of the recyclables into a bay.
3. The recyclables travel along the first conveyor belt. At this stage, large cardboard boxes are taken off for recycling, and large contaminates (non-recyclable items) are removed. The conveyor belt deposits the recyclables into a trommel, which is a huge rotating drum. This drum allows plastic bottles and tins to drop through onto a separate conveyor belt and fines (tiny particles such as glass contamination) can be removed.
4. From the trommel, the recyclables continue along the conveyor belt to a ballistic separator. This is made up of huge rotating railway sleepers which allow the plastic bottles and tins to roll backwards and the paper and card climbs forward. The originally-mixed recyclables are now separated onto two conveyor belts; the first for paper and card, and the second for plastic bottles, aluminium cans and steel cans.
5. The paper and card conveyor belt travel through the final handsorting section. Here, any contaminates are removed, such as plastic bags, glass bottles, video cassettes and other items which should not be there and cannot be removed by technology. The paper and card then drops into a separate bay whilst the plastic bottles and cans continue to the last stage.
6. The plastic bottles, steel cans and aluminium cans then travel under a huge magnet. This magnet
   attracts the steel cans off the conveyor belt and deposits them in the steel-can bay. The plastic bottles and aluminium cans continue their journey through an eddy current, which sends a charge across the conveyor belt. The plastic bottles travel unaffected into the plastic-bottle bay and the aluminium cans react to the charge and are propelled into the aluminium-can bay.
7. The material is separated into four bays; paper and card, aluminium cans, steel cans and plastic bottles. Each bay is emptied by a second digger and material is deposited onto the final conveyor belt which leads to the baler.

Paper and card goes to a papermill where it is recycled into new paper and card.

Aluminium cans are recycled into more cans and aeroplanes.

Steel cans are recycled into more cans and cars.

Plastic bottles are recycled into benches, plastic drink cups, and home compost bins.

This is an example of a recycling journey only and is not necessarily the same for every council

words: Georgina Maric & Rob Holdway | photographs: GETTY images, istock, shutterstock