Visit merton.gov.uk/recyclingfor more information on your recycling and waste collection service - including food waste recycling Working

together to tackle waste

RECYCLING AND RUBBISH Your collection service

Use your communal rubbish bin for general household waste

Please only place household waste items that cannot be recycled in this bin

Do not put food waste in this bin - use the food waste recycling service instead (if its available to you)

Use for RUBBISH (NON-RECYCLABLE WASTE) ONLY

GOOD to knowEvery block is differentThe bins described in this leaflet represent what most blocks of flats have. However, every block is different and sometimes different combinations of bins have to be used. All bins should be clearly labelled telling you what materials go where.

Collection frequencyAll blocks of flats in Merton have their recycling and rubbish collected at least once a week.

Reporting a full binIf your communal bins become full in-between the weekly collections, you can report it quickly and easily via our website (merton.gov.uk/recycling). We will get the bin emptied as soon as possible.

Incorrect useIf you or your neighbours put the wrong item in the wrong bin, we will let you know by attaching an advisory notice. When recycling or food waste bins contain the wrong materials, they may have to be treated in the same way as rubbish, which is expensive and worse for the environment, so please put your items in the right bins.

Replacement food waste caddyMost flats in the borough benefit from a weekly collection of food waste. Recycling food waste reduces smells and frees up space in your rubbish bin. If your communal food waste bin or kitchen caddy are damaged or missing, you can order a replacement at merton.gov.uk/recycling If you’d like to use your own indoor container (old ice cream tubs work well), rather than the caddy we supply, that’s fine - do whatever works for you.

Recycling just six tea bags produces enough electricity to boil a kettle for another cuppa.

Any food waste we collect separately is taken to a special processing plant in Chertsey, Surrey, where it is used to generate electricity to power homes. It also produces a fertiliser which is used by farmers.

One truck-load of food waste can generate enough electricity to power 20,000 TVs for one hour.

FOOD waste recycling facts

RUBBISH

Excess rubbishExcess household rubbish or other items that are not collected from your communal bins (such as old electrical items, DIY waste, wood or sheet glass) can be taken to the Garth Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre. Visit merton.gov.uk/recycling for further information and entry conditions.

Printed: June 2018. This leaflet is printed on recycled paper

PROPERTY TYPE: FLAT (COMMUNAL)

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RECYCLING: PAPER, CARD, PLASTICS, CANS, GLASS AND CARTONS

Toilet and kitchen roll tubes

Dirty cardboard (e.g. pizza boxes)

Egg boxes

Newspapers and magazines

Card and cardboard Clothes / textiles

General rubbish

Cans, tin foil and aerosols

Plastic bags or film

Liquid food and drink cartons

YES PLEASE NO THANKS

Plastic bottles, tubs, trays and containers

Glass - jars and bottles

Polystyrene

Use your communal recycling bins for paper, card, plastics, cans, glass and cartons

Empty and rinse all food and drink containers before putting them in the bin

Remove film lids from plastic pots, tubs and trays (put them in your rubbish bin)

Flatten cardboard boxes before placing them in the bin - if your flattened cardboard won’t fit in, leave it next to the bin

Tissues / paper towels

Nappies

Hard plastics (toys, garden furniture etc)

Use for FOOD SCRAPS and UNWANTED LEFTOVERS

Kitchen caddy

Outdoor food bin

Use your kitchen caddy and outdoor food bin for food waste

Line your indoor kitchen caddy with old newspaper or a compostable liner (available to buy in most supermarkets)

When your caddy’s almost full, transfer the contents to your outdoor food waste bin

Meat and fish bones Cooked and raw

Packaging of any kind

Tea bags and coffee grounds

YES PLEASE NO THANKS

Fruit and vegetables Raw and cooked, peelings

Dairy Cheese and eggs

Oil or liquid fat

Any material that is not food waste

Liquids such as milk

Plastic bags Line caddy with compostable liners or newspaper

Food waste Plate scrapings

‘Contamination’ - what is it and why’s it such a big problem? When a non-recyclable item is placed in a recycling bin, it is called ‘contamination’. It is really important that we keep the contamination levels in our recycling as low as possible. Contamination makes sorting the recycling much more difficult and expensive and can reduce the quality and value of the recyclable materials. If contamination levels in a particular truck-load of recycling are too high, there is a chance that the recycling plant will reject the entire load, and it will have to be treated as rubbish instead. This is more expensive for council tax payers and worse for the environment.

Please make sure your recycling and rubbish is sorted into the correct bins - the bins have stickers showing you what goes where. If non-recyclable items are mixed up with recycling, then it could ‘contaminate’ the whole truck load

RECYCLING: PAPER, CARD, PLASTICS, CANS, GLASS AND CARTONS

FOOD WASTE (available to most, but not all, flats)

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