This week Beat 102 103, we took a trip to a local recycling centre to learn more about what you didn't know could be recycled, and how your local centre caters to people by taking in a wide range of waste products.
Did you know?
Recycling centres don’t just take glass, plastic, and paper. You can recycle much, much more. In general, they accept paper, cardboard, plastic and glass bottles, drinks cans and food tins, textiles and footwear, electrical equipment, fluorescent tubes, waste oil, and DIY waste. Some also accept garden waste and Christmas trees!
Why is knowing what to recycle so important?
More and more people recycle every day. This helps to reduce the need for landfill and more costly forms of disposal. Recycling also reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying, and logging), refining, and processing raw materials all of which create substantial air and water pollution.
Recycling items rather than using raw materials to make new things preserves the planet’s natural resources which, in the face of population growth and growing demand, won’t last forever.
It saves energy
Recycling materials uses less energy than extracting, processing, and transporting raw materials to make new products.
What can I bring to my local recycling centre?
All materials should be clean, to avoid contamination – wash out bottles, cans, yogurt pots etc. before recycling. The items most recycled are:
- Glass bottles and jars – recycle lids/caps separately.
- Paper (newspapers, magazines, telephone books, office paper, junk mail, comics, and light cardboard)
- Drinks cartons (for milk, juice etc.)
- Aluminium (soft drink and beer cans, foil)
- Plastic bottles and cartons
- Food tins (fruit, vegetables, pet food)
- Plastic bottle tops, metal, and aluminium lids
- Textiles (clean clothes, bed linen, towels, coats, and jackets)
- White goods (washing machines, cookers, dryers, dishwashers, fridges)
- Batteries (also collected in shops and supermarkets)
To find out more about recycling centres:
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/
https://www.weeeireland.ie/household-recycling/where-can-i-recycle/
https://www.recyclenow.com/how-to-recycle/why-is-recycling-important
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