It's National Recycling Week.
Did you know recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects?
Recycling prevents the waste of useful materials and reduces the consumption of fresh, raw materials. As a result it reduces energey usage, air pollution and water pollution.
This year's theme is 'Recovery - A future beyond the bin'.
Reducing our waste not only keeps valuable materials out of landfill it also benefits the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our need for new materials. Reducing and reusing can also save you money at home and in the workplace.
Here are some tips to help you recycle right.
1. Separate materials before recycling
Separate lids from containers, contents from packaging so only the right items go into the recycling bin.
2. Keep contamination out of recycling
Make sure you clean out food items out of your recycable containers.
3. Reduce, reuse, recycle
Avoid unnecessary items such as single-use plastics, repurpose used materials and recycle hard plastics, paper, cardboard, glass and tins
4. Read recycling labels
Recycling labels show you how to correctly dispose of each component in everyday items including the lid, packaging and contents
5. Buy recycled
Buying products made out of recycled material not only saves natural resouces but also enables valuable materials to cycle through the economy
6. Find ways to recycle more
Just because it can't be recycled in the kerbside bin, it doesn't mean it can't be recycled at all.
For a list of what can and can't be recycled vist Halve Waste.