Hamilton residents can recycle more items

Oct 22 2009 by Lynda Nicol, Hamilton Advertiser

SOUTH Lanarkshire Council have added to the list of items that the area’s 140,000 households will from now on be able to recycle.

Tetrapaks, yellow pages and food containers can now be placed in blue bins.

Moves to widen the range of recyclables follows a investment in the recycling facility at Bargeddie operated by the council’s partners Viridor.

New technology installed there means that less rubbish has to go to landfill.

Residents can now recycle: mixed plastics; clear and coloured drinks bottles; mineral water, squash and plastic milk bottles; clear and coloured detergent bottles; fabric softener, bleach, cleaning product, hair, bath and shower product bottles; plastic trays and pots; food boxes and ice cream tubs.

All containers must be empty of food and liquids and have their lids removed

The list of recyclables also includes: mixed papers, newspapers and magazines, catalogues, telephone directories, cardboard, envelopes and junk mail, wrapping paper, greetings cards, books and pamphlets, metal packaging and food and drinks cans.

Residents should, however, avoid using the blue bin for dirty items or items which cannot be recycled such as wood, paint, food, liquids and disposable nappies.

If these are added to the wrong bin, all of the contents are contaminated and must then be sent to landfill.

A council spokesman said: “We would particularly ask residents to ensure tops are removed from containers and that the containers are rinsed and emptied before being placed in the bin.

“Liquid or air in plastic bottles is a particular problem as, when they go into the crushing machine, the bottles explode and spread their contents all over the other recyclables effectively rendering them useless.”

At present, people in South Lanarkshire are recycling 37 per cent of the waste.

However, 70 per cent has to be recycled by 2025 to meet national and European targets.

In addition, 25 per cent of waste has to be used to create energy leaving only five per cent of domestic waste going to landfill.