Minor changes to recycling services have begun across Suffolk.
Residents will no longer be able to recycle food and drink cartons (e.g Tetra Pak) or metal pots, pans and trays in the blue bin. Tetra Pak cartons are difficult to recycle due to their mixed content of card, foil and plastic. There is no mechanical way to separate cartons from other recycled material and these cartons are considered as contamination by cardboard reprocessors worldwide. So this change is necessary to ensure that the recycling we collect produces the required high quality end product.
This change is not being made in order to reduce costs. Last year around 70 tonnes of food and drink cartons were collected via the recycling bins across Ipswich, representing less than 1% of the total material collected. However, this tiny amount of material can affect the quality of the remaining 99% of material, potentially rendering it non-recyclable. The global market for recyclate now demands a very high quality end product and in order to ensure that the material produced by Ipswich residents is acceptable we have to make this very minor change
Pots, pans and trays have been causing blockages in the automated recycling plant and as a result we cannot continue to accept them.
Tetra Pak cartons and metal pots, pan and trays can be taken to your nearest recycling centre (Portmans Walk or Foxhall) or put in your black bin.
Ipswich residents are already doing a good job recycling! Please continue to place the following wide range of materials in your household recycling bin: paper, card and books, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, steel and aluminium cans, empty aerosols and clean aluminium foil.
For more information on what you can recycle visit www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk (full link : https://www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk/my-bins/what-can-i-put-in-my-recycling-bin-at-home)
How many cartons/ Tetra Paks are collected for recycling in Ipswich?
Last year around 70 tonnes of cartons were collected via the recycling bins across Ipswich, representing less than 1% of the total material collected.
Why can’t I recycle metal pots, pans and trays in my kerbside recycling?
Pots, pans and trays can cause blockages at the Recycling Plant.
