According to a poll conducted by leading waste management firm SITA UK it has been found that educating people about how to recycle is the best way to boost recycling rates.

46 respondents took part in the poll, 56% thought education was the key to improving recycling rates, 31% said incentives was the best method and 11% thought fines was the best way to boost rates.

A spokesman for SITA UK, Anthony Durston said “The results of the poll make it clear that education was believed to be the key in recycling practices.”

The results of this survey were released just a week after the new UK coalition government completely dropped Labour’s plans to introduce fines in favour of an incentive based approach.

According to new government plans wheelie bins will be fitted with microchips in order to boost recycling rates.

The government has backed new plans to fit Household bins with microchips which will then be weighed when they are collected. Householders that put waste to be recycled will be rewarded with points that can be redeemed for vouchers up to £130 per year.

For each kilo of recyclable waste that is put out households will be rewarded with 5.5 points.

Chairman of the Environmental Board for the Local Government Association, Gary Porter said that the new scheme had already been rolled out in the borough’s of Windsor and Maidenhead but warned against a nationwide programme. He said that local councils should be able to choose if they implement an incentive programme as it could be hard to implement in places like blocks of flats where they only have a single bin.

Recycling rates in the UK have significantly improved in the last six years. Last year alone over 11 million tonnes of waste was recycled in comparison to just 5.2 million tonnes in 2003/4.

Everyone is always talking about the things that should be sent for recycling in order to help the environment and raise the recycling rate, but nobody ever tells you what items should not be recycled. The following are the items that should not be sent to be recycled:

Juice Boxes / Sticky Pads / Stickers

Any paper or cardboard that has a covering, film or glue on it such as juice boxes, sticky pads or stickers should also be thrown in the non recycling bin as they are also not suitable to be recycled.

Glass Windows / Tableware / Vases

Glass windows, tableware and vases have a much higher melting point than a household jar or bottle so should not be put in your recycling box. Items like these can be disposed of at your local council recycling site.

Broken Glass

Broken glass should be put in the bin rather than put in for recycling simply due to the dangers involved in sorting through it. As light bulbs can be smashed so easily they should also not be put in your household recycling box.

Batteries

Batteries should not be put in your household recycling boxes but instead taken to the shop where you bought them from or any shop that sells batteries who will dispose of them for you.

Any products that have mould growing on them

Any products that would normally be put in for recycling such as jars and bottles should be washed out first. The reason for this is to stop any mould from transferring over to the new products that are made from the recycled waste.

Cardboard Pizza Boxes

Most paper and cardboard should go in your recycling box however pizza boxes contain lots of oil from the pizza that makes them almost impossible to clean and then reuse, the oil can also get onto other paper and cardboard products which also makes them impossible to recycle.

Paper Towels / Wet Tissues

Used paper towels also cannot be recycled like pizza boxes as they will have been used to wipe up other materials. This also applies to wet tissues of any kind as wet fibres can cause problems when it comes to recycling.

Toxic Products

Containers that have had toxic products in should not be recycled, this also includes Aerosol cans. Oil and tyres should also not be put in your household recycling bins but taken to a council recycling centre to be disposed or correctly.

Although the list of items above cannot be recycled in the traditional way they can still be re-purposed, learn how to reuse household items here.

If you have any old or broken jewellery, coins, watches or other items made from gold or other precious metals now is a great time to get rid of them online in return for a large cash payment.

The price of gold rose substantially last year and at the moment is currently at £24/gram for 24 carat and £9/gram for 9 carat. As many people looks for ways to earn extra income now is a good time to dig out your old gold and other items and sell them for cash.

One great site that offers top prices for gold and jewellery is Money4Gold UK. By selling your old items direct to an online gold refinery and not to a pawn shop or jeweller you are basically cutting out the middleman so more often that not you will get a higher price. Money 4 Gold is a great site as they also offer a ‘Double G Guarantee’ where they guarantee to pay double than other nationally advertised competitors, so if you find a higher payment for the same piece of gold or jewellery they will pay double.

You could even host a gold party which are really starting to take off in the UK. To have a gold party you need to get a group of friends or colleagues to bring their old gold and jewellery, you pay them a price and then sell the old items online. Some money for gold sites will even sign you up as an agent so you can easily pay out the money.

Not only can you earn cash for selling gold but you will also be helping the planet by helping to stop so much gold ore from being mined in the future.

Request your free G-Pak (Gold Pack) and get cash for your old jewellery here.

According to the latest figures from the European Aluminium Association (EAA) the recycling rate for aluminium cans in the EU has risen by 5.4% in the last two years to hit 63%.

The United Kingdom has an aluminium can recycling rate of 51%. The country that recycles the most cans is Germany with a rate of 96% by using the Green Dot Scheme which means that the manufacturers contribute to the cost of recovery and recycling. The countries that recycle the least are Romania and Bulgaria with a rate of just 34% even though they also use the Green Dot Scheme.

It is believed that waste management operators and local councils are becoming more aware of the value of aluminium cans which has led to the increase in investment in recycling and sorting techniques.

Given the current system in the UK an aluminium can recycling rate of 51% is fairly good and its very likely that when the 2009 figures are released later this year they will have increased further.

Coca-Cola UK has recently partnered with Recyclebank to offer people vouchers off their products for recycling household waste.

The Royal Boroughs of Windsor and Maidenhead will be the first to take part in the scheme from June this year. 60,000 households in these areas will get points for recycling their waste which can then be redeemed for £1 off a range of Coca-Cola products.

Citizenship Manager of Coca-Cola UK, Liz Lowe said “As well as ensuring we recycle our own waste as a business, we are committed to encouraging our consumers to recycle theirs.”

Recent Recyclebank trials in the UK have proven that by offering incentives to households more people will recycle their everyday waste. The Recyclebank pilot scheme which ran in 2009 involving 6500 households saw 70% activate their rewards account and more than 5 million points earned giving discounts at more than 100 shops, leisure centres, attractions, restaurants and charities.

The Daily Mirror newspaper has recently launched a new gadget recycling website, the first of its kind in the UK in partnership with ShP Ltd, one of Europe’s biggest electronic product recycling companies.

The new site allows people to recycle laptops, mobile phones, MP3 players, iPods and Sat Navs in return for cash payments paid either directly to a UK bank account or sent via cheque. The site aims to help people earn some extra cash for old household items and become more environmentally responsible.

The prices that are offered for old electronic devices at MirrorGoGreen are based on the condition that they are in. If 5 or more items are sent in for recycling or a laptop then a free courier collection is offered as standard.

Head of Commercial Partnerships at Mirror Group Newspapers Digital, Jonathan Bury said: “This is an exciting launch for us, Mirrorgogreen will help to push the Mirror brand forward, giving something back to readers, while also helping the environment. We are delighted to be the first national newspaper to launch this type of online recycling website.”

Recycle your old laptops, mobiles, MP3 players or Sat Navs at MirrorGoGreen here

Boots the popular high street chemist has recently expand their recycling site to allow users to recycle not only mobile phones but also digital cameras, SAT NAVs, printer ink cartridges, iPods and MP3 players.

Boots Recycle does not pay in cash but instead pays in Advantage Points which are added to your Boots card and can be used to buy any items in Boot’s shops.

To start recycling your old devices simply visit the Boots Recycle site and type in the model of the device you want to sell. Like any other recycling site Boots will send you a pre-paid envelope in which to return your items in. Alternatively an envelope can be picked up from any Boot’s store. Once received they will be checked over and the Advantage card points will be added to your card within 30 days.

Not only can you get some extra points for your Boots card for recycling here but also for every electronic device that is sent in £1 will be donated to charity.#

Recycle your old electronic devices at Boots Recycle here

According to environmental organisation, the Green Alliance cheap energy from waste could help the UK meet nearly half its renewable energy targets by 2020.

A spokeswoman for the group said that creating alternative energy from the UK’s waste could be a great way to produce more renewable energy. She added that using Nritain’s waste for energy would only come after the right levels of waste reuse, recycling and prevention have been done.

However residual waste should not be seen as a given and lots more effort should still be made to reduce landfill levels in the UK.

This latest news follows last months announcement by the government about the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES). This scheme will see organisations play an important role in helping to cut the UK’s carbon emissions. The aim of the CRC EES is to see businesses improve their energy efficiency and achieve a reduction of 34% on the amount generated in 1990 by 2020.

A brand new site has recently been launched called Trade Your Games which allows users to sell their unwanted console games, consoles and Blu-Rays for cash payments. Although this has been done before on other sites, Trade Your Games is unique and the only site in the UK where users can sell games for credit to buy games off the same site just like on the high street.

The site was created as it was found that there was very few other websites that made the process of buying and selling console games easy online. As well as making the process of selling video games simple and easy, their prices are as much as 40% higher than on the high street.

Currently you can sell or trade in games from many consoles including the Playstation 3, PSP, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii. TradeYourGames also have a huge range of pre-owned and new video games, Blu-Rays and console that you can buy or part exchange.

If you want to sell your old games for cash payments then it will be sent directly to your bank account, Paypal or via cheque once your items have been received and tested.

Sell or Part Exchange your Unwanted Games, Consoles and Blue-Rays at TradeYourGames here