What can and cannot be recycled

Recycling can be confusing. We are presented with a list of which items in which colour recycling bin and then there are the products that cannot be accepted at all for recycling. So here at UKVending we have decided to give you a list (not an exhaustive list mind) of what CANNOT be recycled, and you may well be surprised by some of the items on the list.

Sticky notes

Great things for leaving useful messages to oneself or colleagues but the sticky strip on the back of the small piece of paper itself cannot be recycled.

Toothpaste and other squeezable tubes

Any container that uses more than one type of plastic, such as toothpaste tubes (cap and tube) make recycling difficult. Toothpaste tubes also often contain a thin layer of aluminium.

Pyrex

The special way in which Pyrex glass wear is manufactured means that they are non recyclable because they don’t melt at the same temperature as other glass products. They can also sometimes contain trace amounts of lead.  

Paper receipts

Some paper receipts cannot be recycled despite over 11.2 billion of them being issued every single year in the United Kingdom alone. The ones that cannot be accepted for reprocessing are the receipts printed on shiny, thermal paper which are coated in bisphenol A (BPA) or bisphenol S (BPS)

Crisp packets

The coating on the inside of crisp packets make recycling difficult. This also applies to baby food pouches and pet food pouches too. The residue of grease and crisps also adds to the problem.

The scrunch test is a simple way of checking whether something is recyclable. If the item springs back into shape after you have scrunched it up then it shouldn’t be recycled.

Salad bags

Salad bags contain a mixture of different kinds of plastics again making recycling difficult and expensive.