10 things you can’t put in your household recycling

You would think that recycling household waste is a straightforward and easy way to ‘do our bit’ for the environment, but it is not that simple. Unfortunately, failure to recycle the correct things means that lots of recyclable waste ends up in landfill.

There is a good chance that you are recycling your household waste incorrectly, even though you have good intentions. To make things clearer, we have put together some household waste items you can’t put into your recycling.

1. Crisp and sweet packets – Crisp packets, sweet packets and other metallised plastic films cannot be recycled due to the residue that clings onto them after use. Crisp packets could be recycled if there was a separate process created to remove the contaminating residue, but this is currently not an option.
2. Premade salad bags – Bags that contain premade salad and leaf mixes cannot be recycled because they are a combination of multiple different plastics, making them difficult to separate in the recycling process. Numerous plastics are used to ensure the bag stays airtight to keep the pre-prepared salad inside fresh. However, some supermarkets are moving towards materials that can be recycled, so check for a recycle symbol before you dispose of it.
3. Makeup removal pads and wipes – Cotton wool pads and makeup removal wipes can’t be recycled, but pads that are 100% cotton can be added to the compost bin. This is only if it hasn’t got any residue in it that could contaminate the compost.