Major changes have been made to what Greater Manchester households can recycle

Major changes have been made to what households across Greater Manchester can now stick into their recycling bins.

In case you weren’t aware, this week is National Recycling Week, which is a national effort focused on rescuing items that can be recycled, and in a bid to properly mark the occasion, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has announced that residents across the region will now be able to recycle a wider range of plastic items in their household mixed recycling bin.

This is all thanks to upgrades in Greater Manchester’s recycling facilities, and to the recent contract extension with SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK.

From this week, plastic pots and tubs used for things like yoghurt, soup, cosmetics, butter, and laundry powder, plastic trays containing raw and cooked meat, and plastic fruit and veg punnets, can now all be put in the mixed recycling bin.

See more

These can now all join items like plastic bottles, glass jars, food tins and drinks cans, aerosols, and foil for the first time.

Despite these recent facilities upgrades, plastic films like crisp packets, pet food pouches, and carrier bags, still cannot be recycled in our region.

For now, you can just can throw plastic films into your household bin, where they’ll be burned to generate electricity for the region, however, GMCA has assured residents that it is planning to collect these types of plastic for recycling “in the future”.

“These upgrades will keep up our momentum on recycling,” explained Cllr Tom Ross, who is the Portfolio Lead for Waste and Recycling at GMCA.

Read more:

• Mancs urged to donate unwanted clothes to stop 16,000 tonnes being thrown away
• Shocking new study reveals Mancs throw away more than £1,000 of ‘freezable’ food every year
• Manchester has been named one of the most ‘caring’ cities in the UK

“It’ll give us time to build our new, cutting-edge materials recovery centre in Manchester while supporting residents to recycle more easily.”

Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons