Is recycling just too complicated?

IN 2023, the UK’s household waste recycling rate was just over 44%, with the North East falling below the national average.

- Giuseppe Bignardi

Recycling is complicated. Different local authorities have different rules about what and how we recycle, and looking at the recycling symbols can add to the confusion. A symbol suggesting that a product is recyclable does not necessarily mean that it can go into our local council's recycle bin.

I am probably not the only person who has been overenthusiastic about recycling. For years I have put in the recycle bin items that should have been disposed differently. There is an expression for this mistake: “wishcycling”

Wishcycling (placing unsuitable items into the recycling bin with good intentions) can do more harm than good, as it can increase the cost of sorting, damage equipment or spoil entire batches of otherwise recyclable material.

The online recycling advice from my local authority runs over seven A4 pages and is not exhaustive. There is also a separate website explaining what I can take to our local Household Waste Recycling Centre, also known as the “tip”.