Residents in Nottinghamshire are throwing away the equivalent of around 57 million recyclable cans and newspapers every year, according to new research.

This week is Recycle Week and this year the focus is on rescuing recyclable items from the general waste bin.

Research commissioned by Nottinghamshire County Council and Veolia has revealed that 7% of the rubbish found in general household waste bins can in fact be recycled in Nottinghamshire in the kerbside recycling bin, so residents are now being urged to check before they chuck and rescue their lost recyclables.

Paper is a big opportunity, with residents throwing away the equivalent of 300,000 newspapers each week, missing the chance to give these materials a new life. Cardboard is another top recyclable material that is commonly put in the wrong bin; approximately half of the cardboard found in general waste bins is clean and could be recycled, but currently isn’t. The study also revealed that the equivalent of around 800,000 food cans end up in the wrong bin every week.

Nottinghamshire residents could save these  recyclable materials and  improve the county’s recycling rates by taking a few minutes to find out which bin to use for their rubbish at home. To make this as easy as possible, the council has a free Recycling Checker that is available in the My Notts app or online at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/recyclingchecker.

The Recycling Checker is quick and simple to use – residents just need to type in the name of the item they are throwing away along with their postcode, and the Recycling Checker will tell them which bin it needs to go in or if it needs to be taken to a recycling centre.

Households in Nottinghamshire are reminded that they can recycle the following clean items in their recycling bin at home:

• Paper and card
• Food tins, drinks cans, and aerosols (without the lid)
• Plastic bottles (keep drink bottle lids on but remove pumps and sprays)
• Margarine tubs and yoghurt pots

Glass is collected separately for recycling and, dependent on where you live, this is either at the kerbside or at glass bottle banks.

Coun Neil Clarke, cabinet member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said:
“Our research has shown that collectively we are throwing away a staggering number of items that could have been recycled. Proper recycling is a simple yet powerful way to make a tangible difference.

“By ensuring that our recyclables find their way into the correct bin, we can save valuable resources and make sure they are on the right journey to being turned in to something new. We hope that our free Recycling Checker will help Nottinghamshire residents to recycle right and save their lost recyclables from their general waste bins.”

Steve Newman, general manager at Veolia Nottinghamshire, added: “Every misplaced item represents a lost opportunity to recycle. We’re urging residents to reconsider their waste disposal habits and make use of the resources available to them such as the free online recycling checker. This is a crucial step in our journey towards ecological transformation, where we aim to create a more sustainable future for Nottinghamshire through improved recycling practices and waste reduction.”