This passed us by initially (and also seems to have been missed by everyone we’ve spoken with), but more items can now be recycled by Birmingham households.
Until recently only plastic bottles, tin cans, glass bottles, paper and card could be collected for recycling at the kerbside, but with immediate effect Birmingham households can now add plastic pots, tubs, food trays and aluminum foil to their green recycling boxes or in the body of their recycling wheelie bin.
Whilst the range of items that can be recycled is expanding, there are still many plastic items that cannot be accepted due to processing limitations; these include all types of black plastic, all types of plastic bags, wrappers, polystyrene, Tetra Paks and films. Also, all other non-packaging plastic items such as toys, washing-up bowls and buckets.
The plastics that are NOW ACCEPTED within Birmingham’s recycling boxes and recycling wheelie bins are:
• Plastic bottles of all types
• Yoghurt pots
• Margarine tubs
• Ice cream tubs
• Plastic trays (e.g.from chocolate and biscuit boxes) that are NOT black in colour
• Trays from meat and fish
• Fruit and vegetable punnets
• All bottle tops, lids and triggers
• Cream and custard pots
• Soup pots
• Instant Noodle pots
• Tubs for dishwasher and laundry tablets
The following items are still NOT ACCEPTED:
• Hard plastic items eg toys, washing-up bowls, tupperware lunchboxes etc
• Black plastic
• Plastic film or wrappers
• Plastic bags or black sacks
• Expanded polystyrene
• Food waste / general rubbish
To help the recycling process, residents are asked to simply wash and squash their plastic bottles (keeping the tops separate to the bottles), tubs, pots, food trays and foil, then add them to their recycling box or wheelie bin along with their cans, tins, and glass bottles.
Households with more recycling than their current containers can fit (wheelie bin or box system) can request extra bins or boxes. Simply go to the recycling page http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/paperround and click on ‘report bin/box/container problem‘.
Two trips to the Lifford Lane tip have been thwarted by massive queues in the last couple of days. People recycling the green waste that is now only collected for a charge. I wonder what effect hundreds of car exhausts spewing forth is having on the residents?
It’ll be interesting t see whether the garden waste recycling issue affects the Labour vote in the forthcoming local elections in Birmingham. A local election impacted upon by a local issue…now that would be something!!