Why Recycle?

recycling

We've made it easier than ever to 'Recycle for Norfolk'.

Most homes in Norfolk have a kerbside recycling collection service which collects paper, cardboard, steel and aluminium cans and plastic bottles (Norwich City Council is slightly different, see their page for details).

  • There are hundreds of recycling banks across the county to recycle your glass bottles and jars. There are also many recycling banks collect textiles. Find your nearest bring bank site here.
  • Many items that cannot be recycled at the kerbside, are accepted for recycling at your local Recycling Centre. Tetra Paks (food and drink cartons), Foil, Fridges & Freezers, Electrical Goods, Household Batteries, Car Batteries, Fluorescent Tubes, Textiles, Timber and Books can all be recycled. Find your nearest recycling centre here.
  • Many supermarkets take back old plastic carrier bags for recycling. Find out when you next do your shopping.
  • Most districts offer a fortnightly garden waste collection service for a small annual fee. Residents signing up to the service will receive a 240 litre brown bin for garden waste such as grass cuttings, leaves and prunings.
  • If you have a garden, home composting offers an easy way to transform your uncooked kitchen and garden waste into a useful resource for your garden. Reduced price Home Compost bins are available including free delivery. To order, call 0845 077 0757 quoting reference NOR04 or order online at: www.recyclenow.com/compost.

Save energy

  • Recycling paper uses 70% less energy compared with making it from raw materials.
  • The energy required to make one 'new' aluminium can, could be used to make 20 cans from recycled aluminium.
  • Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours.
  • Recycling one steel can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours.
  • Every tonne of glass recycled saves 1.2 tonnes of raw materials and the equivalent of 30 gallons of oil energy.

Protect the Environment

  • Each tonne of paper that is recycled saves 24 trees.
  • Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials
  • Plastic bottles are made from oil, a fossil fuel that will eventually run out. Each year in the UK more than 9 billion plastic bottles are thrown away. It takes just 25 two litre bottles to make one fleece jacket.
  • Currently, the most common method of disposing of our waste is in landfill. The space in current landfill sites is running out, and the number of new suitable sites is diminishing. Landfill is a waste of natural resources and energy. Some items that are land filled will take hundreds of years to break down, such as disposable nappies and plastic bags.

Save Money

  • Even if the environmental benefits don't encourage you to recycle, the economics might be worth considering.
  • Disposing of waste to landfill currently attracts a landfill tax of £24 per tonne, set to rise to £32 per tonne in April 2008. This cost must be paid for out of your council tax. If we reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill, there will be more money to spend on the services that you really want.
  • By reducing, reusing and recycling your rubbish, you can help minimise collection and transportation costs, as well as the cost of disposing of the waste.
  • From 2010, if we have not reduced the quantity of biodegradable waste (things like food waste, garden waste and paper) going to landfill, Norfolk could face fines of up to £150 per tonne (234,368 tonnes of waste were disposed of in Norfolk in 2006/7). Therefore, it's important to recycle and compost where you can.