Check before you chuck it!

Drinks cartons and ‘Tetra Packs’, empty food containers and aerosols, envelopes, clothes and shoes, even small electrical appliances can now be disposed in the blue bin but, as Fiona Watters, Waste and Recycling Officer with Coleraine Borough Council, explains we all need to get into the habit of ‘checking before we chuck’.

She says, “We are delighted to extend the range of materials for blue bin recycling, but being environmentally responsible does take a little bit more thought from everyone, at least until we all get used to the changes.

“Plastic food containers of all sorts can now be popped into the blue bin. That means everything from fruit punnets and bun trays to vegetable trays, margarine and yoghurt pots and even take away food trays – but they do need to be washed out before blue binning.

“For the first time envelopes can be recycled but we can’t accept the ones with the little plastic windows – the plastic needs to be torn out first. Aerosol cans are also suited to blue bin recycling, but make sure that they are empty before you throw them into the bin.

“We can now accept small electrical appliances such as hair dryers, toasters, kettles and irons – although nothing with glass – an added convenience that may well save householders a trip to the recycling centre.”

Clothes and shoes can also be recycled in the blue bins.

The recycling rate across the Borough currently stands at an impressive 40% but Coleraine Borough Council is firmly committed to driving that percentage upwards, reducing further the amount of waste going to landfill.

Everything that goes into the Council’s blue bins is recycled within the UK. It’s sorted at Glassdon Recycling in Toomebridge which accepts a daunting 250 tonnes of blue bin material from Coleraine’s recyclers every month. The materials go from Glassdon to various recycling factories throughout the UK to be made into new products.

Mayor of Coleraine, Cllr Sandy Gilkinson welcomed the expansion of the Borough’s blue bins scheme saying, “Anything which increases the opportunity to recycle waste is to be welcomed, and the blue bin scheme has proved particularly successful in Coleraine.

“We can’t afford to rest on our recycling laurels, we need to be improving continuously. Not only do we have formal targets to meet, but we also have an opportunity to save on costs as we save on environmental impact.”

Help and information on recycling in the Coleraine Borough is available from the Waste & Recycling Helpline on 028 7034 7272 or at www.colerainebc.gov.uk/recycle