Rigid plastic recycling


Items made out of hard/rigid mixed plastics can now be dropped off for recycling at our larger household waste recycling sites in County Durham.

We can take all non-electrical hard plastic products (it does not matter if the product is made out several types of plastic) such as:

  • plastic garden furniture;
  • plastic toys;
  • plastic bins and buckets;
  • plastic food containers;
  • plastic crockery and cutlery.

Electrical items with plastic casing should still be put into the waste electrical, electronic equipment containers – this allows the metal components to be stripped out before the plastic is recycled.


The need for plastic recycling

Plastics make up around 7% of the average household dustbin and the amount of plastic waste generated annually in the UK is estimated to be nearly 3 million tonnes. It is therefore vital that we recycle plastic, as it’s made from oil and its production uses 8% of the world’s oil, which is one of the earth’s main non-renewable energy sources, and is running out fast.


What happens to the plastic?

The plastic will be sorted, washed and then granulated. Once in this state it can be used as a raw material by manufacturers and made into items like carrier bags, drain pipes, garden furniture, fleece jackets and sleeping bags, etc.
 

To see which sites accept hard mixed rigis plastic go here.