THE RULES OF RECYCLING

BLACK PLASTIC

Used regularly for ready meals as well as meat packaging and bin bags, black plastic gets its colour from being dyed with carbon black pigments, which makes it difficult to recycle. Clear plastic trays, on the other hand, can be recycled much more easily.

PIZZA

A cardboard pizza box is recyclable, but the disc of polystyrene used to support the pizza is not. In

2017, the Co-op replaced these bases with cardboard ones.

POUCHES VS TINS

Baby food and pet food pouches are made from different plastic, sometimes with an aluminium layer – meaning they can never be recycled. Buy tins instead, but rinse before recycling; some councils will reject recycling loads if any of it is contaminated.

FOILED AGAIN!

While foil can be recycled, metallised plastic film found on crisp packets cannot. To find out if an item is made from foil, scrunch it in your hand. If it stays ‘scrunched’, it’s foil; if it springs back, it’s metallised plastic film.