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Things you might not know can be recycled

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94% of Welsh citizens regularly recycle with over half of us recycling more in the past year than before. Whilst many of us have a recycling routine that works for us our annual recycling survey revealed that there are some common items that are not being recycled when they could be. Making sure we recycle items from all around the house every time can make a big difference.

Recycling from the bathroom

There are lots of items in the bathroom waiting to be recycled.

Why not have a separate recycling bin in the bathroom or reuse a basket or box for all your aerosols, toilet roll tubes and cleaning bottles. You could even hang a recycling bag on the back of the bathroom door.

Most of us recycle shampoo and conditioner bottles, but don’t forget once they are empty you can recycle the following items:

  • Shower gel containers – rinse items and replace lids;

  • Toothpaste boxes – flatten;

  • Toilet roll tubes - flatten;

  • Bathroom cleaners and bleach bottles – rinse and replace spray triggers and lids;

  • Deodorants, body spray and hairspray aerosols;

  • Shaving foam;

  • Moisturiser bottles;

  • Hand soap bottles - rinse and replace lids and spray triggers, as these are removed in the recycling process.

Please remove any pumps from skincare and toiletry bottles and place these in your bag or bin for non-recyclable waste.

Find out more about recycling from the bathroom

Recycling from the bedroom

Did you know that if everyone in the UK recycled one empty aerosol, enough energy would be saved to run a TV in 273,000 homes for a year.

Below are some items you might want to look out for in the bedroom:

  • All deodorant and hairspray aerosols must be empty and plastic caps removed and placed with your mixed plastics;

  • Empty tissue boxes – remove any plastic inserts and flatten;

  • Old magazines.

Recycling from the living room

Most of us recycle newspapers and magazines, and in less than 7 days you could be reading your favourite newspaper on paper that you have just recycled!

Other items that you might find for recycling in the living room include:

  • Empty aerosol air fresheners and furniture polish – remove plastic caps and place with your mixed plastics;

  • Cardboard packaging from online shopping – remove any packaging tape and flatten;

  • Envelopes.

Recycling from the kitchen

Most of us remember to recycle in the kitchen and we often have our own routines for separating our recyclables in this room.

However, these are some of the items that can be recycled that you might forget about:

  • All aerosols, tins of furniture polish and air fresheners must be empty and plastic caps removed and placed with your mixed plastics;

  • Bleach bottles – rinse and re-place the lid;

  • Empty dishwasher tablet boxes and kitchen foil or cling film boxes -flatten;

  • Foil – free from food, grease or oil;

  • Foil pie cases or takeaway trays – free from food, grease or oil;

  • Kitchen roll tubes;

  • Surface cleaner bottles – rinse and replace spray triggers and lids;

  • Washing-up liquid bottles – empty, rinse and replace lid;

  • Plastic drinks bottles, pots, tubs and trays;

  • Hand soap bottles - rinse and replace lids and spray triggers, as these are removed in the recycling process.

Find out what you can recycle at home

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