Recycling rules can be like trying to make a connection after an early morning flight in another country – overwhelming, confusing and just downright annoying. But fear not! We’re here to help and iron out any details so you know your cardboard from your tin cans. Read on to find out all your Trafford recycling rules and handy tips – don’t say we don’t spoil you!
According to Trafford Council:
Here’s what you CAN put into your recycling bins:
Black bin:
Please make sure to rinse out your items before putting them in the bin.
- Aerosols (without lids)
- Clean foil and foil trays
- Food and drink cans
- Bottle-shaped plastics like cleaning products, trigger spray bottles, shampoo and shower gel bottles, drink bottles, milk bottles, glass bottles and jars (without the lid)
Blue bin:
- Paper and newspaper
- Magazines and catalogues
- Books
- Cardboard
- Card packaging
- Rinsed food and drink cartons (including Tetra Pak)
- Greeting cards
- Wrapping paper (not foil-based)
- Envelopes and mail
- Junk mail
Green bin:
- Raw and cooked meat and fish – including bones
- Raw and cooked fruit and vegetables
- Leftovers from your plate
- Rice, pasta, and beans
- Bread, cake, and pastries
- Cheese and eggs – including eggshells
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Flowers, plants and leaves
- Grass cuttings and hedge clippings
- Twigs and small branches
- Hay and straw pet bedding (i.e. from rabbits and guinea pigs)
Here’s what CANNOT go into your Trafford recycling bins:
Black bin:
- Plastic food trays
- Yoghurt pots and margarine tubs
- Plastic film
- Plastic bags
- Soil
Blue bin:
- Plastic bags
- Polystyrene
- Wrapping film
- Glass jars and bottles
- Food and drink cans
- Garden or food waste
- Paper tissues and paper towels
Green bin:
- Liquids – like milk or cooking oils
- Plastic bags
- Plastic food packaging
- Glass
- Rubble
- Turf and ash
- Soil and stone
- Dog and cat faeces
Trafford recycling tips
Your council has a few extra notes to keep in mind when sorting out your Trafford recycling.
Unfortunately, plastic pots, tubs, trays, and bags cannot be currently recycled, so you should pop them into your grey bin.
It’s very important to only put the correct items into your blue bin. Otherwise, the waste cannot be recycled because of contamination.
From January 2020 to August 2021, 778 tonnes of waste found in blue bins could not be recycled because of this, costing an extra £70,020 in disposal costs.
When using your green bin, make sure to avoid putting in cut flowers, house plants, and pet bedding, as these are considered household waste.
For more info on your Trafford recycling details, you can visit their website.
Trafford recycling – Where does it go?
For Trafford recycling, your paper and card are taken to a facility where it’s sorted and graded (not into Hogwarts houses). It’s then transported to a reprocessing facility that recycles it into new products.
According to Recycle for Greater Manchester, these new products are then sold – with 51% of recycled paper and card sold to UK markets and 7% sold to EU markets. The rest went to other world markets outside of the EU.
Trafford’s mixed recycling is taken to a Materials Recovery Facility in Manchester. There, your plastic bottles, tins, glass jars, and drink cans are all separated. It’s then all put together and ready for the recycling process.
66% of recycled plastic bottles are then sold to UK markets, and 33% are sold to EU markets. 100% of your glass bottles, jars, aerosol cans, food cans, drink cans, and foil were then sold to UK markets (Recycle for Greater Manchester).
All your food and garden waste is taken to an in-vessel composting facility in the UK. What’s that? It’s basically one huge compost that can break down everything in just six weeks. The compost is then used in the UK as a soil improver.
If you’d like to learn more about where your Trafford recycling goes, check out their site.
Now you can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing your food waste from your plastic. Recycling alone definitely isn’t going to solve the waste problem, but it’s certainly a step (or a wheel) in the right direction!
More from Modern Milkman
If you want to uncomplicate your Trafford recycling even more, sign up for milk delivery and join our milkround. Our doorstep milk delivery uses return and reuse glass bottles, leaving you with one less thing to find the right bin for! You can even find household essentials and tasty treats on our fresh produce delivery to make sure you never have an eggless evening again.
