Innovative ways to recycle

With the new bin collections etc I‘ve been looking more closely at what is going into my grey bin. There is an awful lot of food packaging that is marked as ‘not currently recyclable’. Including surprising things like pasta bags.

Some plastic bags are marked ‘recycle with carrier bags’ so I am saving those to drop off at Sainsburys (now I know carrier bags don’t go in the green bin).

Noticed today that my McVitie’s digestives pack was marked with a Terracycle logo. It’s a free recycling programme sponsored by McVities but also accepting wrappers from other brands of biscuits. You collect up the wrappers then download a UPS mailing label and either organise a pick-up or drop them off at a UPS collection point. Seems a bit of a faff, in that I need yet another recycle bag to hang on the back of the door but if it keeps the stuff out of my grey bin, I’m gonna do it.

Finally, does anyone else save up dead batteries in a clear bag and periodically pop them out on top of the green bin for collection? I do, but wonder how the refuse collectors process them. Do they have a box on board the truck for collecting batteries?

Batteries can be dropped off loose at Sainsburys Bell Green and Tesco on Perry Hill. At both places the drop off receptacle is by the entrance. I find this easier than using street collection and I suspect Sainsburys Forest Hill offers this too.

with batteries I save them up, then drop them in a supermarket battery recycling bin- they are usually somewhere near the tills, but I believe if they sell batteries they are supposed to have a recycling bin, so just ask if its not visible.

On another matter, PC World/Currys accepts ‘unwanted electricals and technology’ at the counter by the main entrance so good for old printers, PC screens etc that have died. They also have battery recycling bins.

They do! But so do all supermarkets & Boots do. Also local Sainsbury’s in Honor Oak Road.

Unintentional but I found myself recycling food bin bags from Southwark which some how made its way from there to here when we moved last year. Same bags. Same size. Same no problems.

Question. As I walked to the station this morning I saw two (not one) bins each with a wee bag of batteries sitting on top. Do bin men now take old batteries?

Yes! That’s what I was talking about in my OP. You can leave them on top of your green bin in a clear bag and they will be collected along with your other recycling. I’ve been doing this for more that two years.

Sorry. Missed that. Best bit of news. They used to collect batteries at my office but not anymore. This is great advice.

I don’t think it’s well advertised.

Very good to know! Thank you.