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.

Batteries that are thrown in the bin amount to a large amount of the waste that ends up at Britain’s landfills. Once at landfill batteries leak dangerous chemicals into the soil which will cause damage to the environment. To try and avoid these problems strict guidelines and regulations have been set for companies that produce and manufacture batteries in the UK.

The new Waste Batteries and Accumulators regulations state that any company that either imports or manufacturers at least 1 tonne of batteries in the UK will be responsible for sorting out the waste and recycling and cleaning up the mess. The amount they will have to recycle will depend on how much of the market they share. Each company that produces over a tonne of batteries will have to register with Environmental Agencies in the UK.

Companies that manufacture less than 1 tonne of batteries will not be held accountable by the new regulations although they must still register with the National Producer Responsibility Database.

Duracell one of the biggest manufacturers of batteries has recently signed a new agreement to help consumers recycle their old batteries by promoting the ways that this can be done. The agreement comes after a new EU directive will force every battery producer that makes over a tonne of batteries to get involved in the recycling of the products they make.

By October, 15th 2009 all producers of batteries must get involved in a community scheme for recycling them or they will receive penalties or fines from the EU.

Duracell is now waiting for their new battery recycling scheme to be approved by the Environment Agency. Duracell who currently produce over half of all batteries sold in the UK are confident their scheme will be accepted and state that as an industry leader it was their duty to get involved quickly.

The new EU law will not only apply to battery manufacturers but also shops that sell them. Any shops that sell more than 32 KG of batteries will be forced to set up in store recycling for consumer’s used batteries.