The importance of recycling

Recycling is an easy way for you to have a positive impact on the world in which we live and generates local and global benefits that will be felt both today and in the years to come. But what does ‘recycling’ actually mean and what are the benefits?

What is recycling? 

Recycling means separating items from your rubbish so they can be turned back into raw materials that can be used to create new products. 

General everyday household recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and metal packaging can be taken to the mini recycling centres known as ‘bring banks’ found Island-wide and householders in the parishes of St John, St Lawrence, Trinity, St Mary, St Brelade and St Helier can also use parish recycling collections. 

The Household Green Waste Reception and Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at La Collette provides facilities for a wider range of recyclables such as garden waste, light bulbs, metals and electrical goods. 

Home composting is also an excellent way to recycle garden and food waste by creating compost from your grass cuttings and vegetable peelings. 

Why recycle? 

Some items such as electrical goods, glass, batteries and metals should always be separated from your household rubbish. 

When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products. This reduces the need to extract raw materials from the Earth through forestry and mining and helps to protect the natural environment. 

Recycling also uses less energy than that required to produce new products from raw materials and so it helps to preserve natural resources for the future. 

What happens to my recycling? 

Most of the items collected in the Island for recycling are sent to the UK or Europe where there are specialist recycling facilities. Everything that is collected for recycling is recycled.

'The 3 R’s': Reduce, Reuse and Recycle 

Recycling is an easy way for you to live more sustainably, but reducing your waste and finding ways to reuse items are even better. 

Reducing your waste can be as simple as using a reusable bag at the shops, choosing products with less packaging (ideally recyclable), and swapping paper correspondence for email where it's appropriate. 

Examples of reuse you can achieve at home include reusing old envelopes for shopping lists and planting seedlings in yoghurt pots. Local charities have always been champions of finding things new homes and this is now even easier at the Acorn Reuse Centre at the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at La Collette. When items can no longer be reused, they can then be recycled. 

New Recycling Finder available online 

You can now search hundreds of materials from aerosols to wood to find out how you can reuse, recycle or dispose of unwanted items or household waste. 

Visit the Recycling Finder and find your item. The finder will show you if your item may be suitable for reuse or recycling, provide recycling or disposal advice and list what facilities to use. 

More information can be found on the Government’s environment page or check out the ecoactive information.