recycling foil

Aluminium foil

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Foil can be used for many things, mostly though, it’s used in cooking and especially with the use of oil, it can end up with baked on residues of food and grease. So, how do we recycle it?

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With foil if you can scrape off as much food waste as possible either by crinkling it or scrapping it with your fingernail. Small amounts will be okay. If there are large amounts, just cut them out and pop the really damaged foil into your black top rubbish bin.


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Like aluminium cans, aluminium foil is made from bauxite, a natural mineral found in the planet in great abundance. And like aluminium cans, aluminium foil is 100% recyclable - and a valuable recyclable material as it doesn’t lose any quality during the recycling process.

Do scrunch all your foil, big and small, into a ball until it is the size of a tennis ball, but the bigger the better.


Our dependency on oil and bauxite is reduced since recycling one ton of aluminium saves 40 barrels of oil. As you know we ask for all your recycling to be Clean Dry and Loose. Regarding clean, the main issue is that if a soiled item is put into your recycling bin it will contaminate other items in your bin or the bin lorry. If you put a half full tin of baked beans in your recycling bin (it does happen!!) then the beans will contaminate the paper, cardboard and plastics in your bin, and the rest of the bin lorry when it is collected. So as long as when you run your fingers over the foil there is no grease that will contaminate the rest of your recycling bin then it will be OK.


Metal foil milk bottle tops

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The foil milk bottle tops from good old fashioned milk bottles can be recycled. This is foil and can go into your blue top kerbside recycling bin.

As they are small, I would suggest you do as I do: As you use them pop them, clean and dry, into a small pot and then with all your other small bits of foil, roll them up into a ball. When the ball gets to the size of a tennis ball pop it into your recycling bin. At this size it will not get mixed up with other recycling and will not block up the mechanical sorting machinery at our recycling plant.