FAQ

Where can I learn about the A – Z of recycling?

You can find a full easy to understand A – Z of recycling here

Where can we recycle plastic carrier bags and plastic bottles?

Some supermarkets accept plastic bags for recycling, alternatively use a ‘Bag for Life’ which is a strong plastic or material bag that can be reused over and over again rather than taking new plastic carrier bags.

If you are a business then you can ask us for a free bin and collection agreement

Why can I not put junk mail, directories or catalogues in the newspaper banks at the Community Recycling Centres?

The paper banks at the Community Recycling Centres only accept newspapers and magazines.
Any other types of non-white paper, especially where ink has been on the paper for a long period of time (such as within telephone directories) requires a more bleaching agents when it is reprocessed to produce white newsprint.

Junk mail includes window envelopes and plastics that cannot be recycled with the paper.
Directories and catalogues have a high ink density and a cardboard spine that is glued on. This glue can cause problems for the machinery at the reprocessing plant and the high levels of ink requires more treatment to produce whiter paper.

Can I not put old glasses, windowpanes, Pyrex or vision wear in the glass banks?

We can only accept glass bottles and jars in our glass banks because it is recycled into new glass bottles. Any other glass based materials have a different composition and therefore a different melting point, creating imperfections in the new glass bottles.

What happens to my green garden waste?

Green waste is sent a local wind row composting facility where it is initially screened for contamination and then shredded. The green material is then sent out into long piles where the temperate and moisture are monitored. The green waste is regularly turned to allow oxygen to mix with the material. After approximately 3 months compost is produced.

Can I dispose of my garden chemicals at my local Community Recycling Centre?

Please do not dispose of garden chemicals down drains and sinks. If you have small quantities of garden chemicals, and they are from your own home you can take them to your local Community Recycling Centre. Please speak to a site attendant who can deposit such chemicals in the appropriate container for you, and record the details for their official records.

Do I have to pay to dispose of a fridge or freezer?

If you have a fridge or freezer from your own home you can dispose of it for free at any of the Community Recycling Centres. You will not be charged, but will have to provide name, address details. If you have a trade fridge or freezer you will be redirected to a Waste Tranfer Station where a charge for disposal will be made per unit.

Why can’t I take or buy items from the Community Recycling Centres?

The only people who are permitted to take items from the sites are the Recycling Contractors. The site licenses and health and safety procedures state that members of the public are unable remove items from the site.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Reducing Junk Mail

Mailing Preference Service online application form:
www.mpsonline.org.uk

Home Composting
Composting Association
www.compost.org.uk

Royal Horticultural Society
www.rhs.org.uk

HDRA Composting Research – Excellent full guide to Home Composting
www.hdra.org.uk

RecycleNow National website – the gardening pages
www.recyclenow.com

Wormeries

Wiggly Wigglers
www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

Cloth Nappies

The Real Nappy Campaign website tells you everything you need to know about cloth nappies.

The Nappy Finder service – allows parents to find all their local services including local authority incentive schemes simply by entering their postcode.

The Real Nappy Helpline – 0845 850 0606 – gives callers details of their local cloth nappy contacts whether they want to buy them to wash at home or use a laundry service. Avaliable Monday to Friday 8am-8pm and Saturdays 9am-12noon.

Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) is a unique, vital and innovative campaigning organisation, which represents women and campaigns on issues, which link women, environment and health. Email: nappies@wen.org.uk

As we all buy more and more goods it will inevitably mean there is more waste, and this means collecting and disposing of waste becomes increasingly more expensive.

Waste reduction is the key solution to dealing with this growing problem. The less waste produced means less waste to be managed.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Put your bin on a diet! Reduce it’s waste to become a Slimmer bin! Here’s how:

Steps to reducing unwanted Junk Mail
Simple guide to Home Composting
Get Real with Cloth Nappies
Think about what you buy. Try being a Considerate Shopper
Furniture reuse in Surrey

Other top tips to SLIM YOUR BIN:

Send unwanted bric-a-brac such as toys, CD’s, jewellery, china, books, clothing in good condition etc to local charity shops. Many charities find them a valuable source of regular general funding.
With Swap it Surrey you can advertise your unwanted items for free online and even get something you do want in return!
A similar idea is Freecycle, with over 3 million members worlwide and over 60 active groups in the South East of England, you are bound to find someone who will want your unwanted things!
Or alternatively you can find out where your nearest Car Boot sale is and take along any unwanted saleable household items.

Reducing your waste could:

Save you money
Help your local community
Safeguard scarce resources
Protect the environment
Reduce pollution

Simple steps to reducing unwanted marketing mail …

Register with the Mailing Preference Service to reduce unwanted addressed marketing mail. Your name and address will be removed from up to 95% of direct marketing lists.
MPS Online registration
Or call 0845 703 4599 to register over the phone

If you wish to opt out of receiving unaddressed Royal Mail Door to Door mail items, please send your name and address to the address below:

Freepost RRBT-ZBXB-TTTS
Royal Mail Door to Door Opt Outs
Kingsmead House
Oxpens Road
OXFORD
OX1 1RX

or email: optout@royalmail.com

Royal Mail will then send an opt-out form to your address, which you must sign and return.
Once you’ve returned this form, Royal Mail will stop delivering unaddressed items to your address within 6 weeks.

Before you decide to opt out, please visit the Royal Mail Door to Door Opting Out webpage for further information.

Always tick the box on correspondence indicating you would not like to receive any further information and not to be entered on their mailing lists.

You may continue to receive items of sales and marketing mail from companies you have used in the past as they may hold your details on their own internal mailing lists. In this case contact them directly to ensure they no longer send you unwanted mail.

Energy from Waste (EfW) is a term describing the technologies used to recover energy in a carefully controlled and highly regulated combustion environment.

BENEFITS OF ENERGY FROM WASTE

WHO REGULATES ENERGY FROM WASTE PLANTS?

WHY DON’T WE RECYCLE INSTEAD?

ENERGY FROM WASTE IN SURREY

FURTHER INFORMATION

BENEFITS OF ENERGY FROM WASTE

It significantly reduces the volume of waste
Electricity is supplied to the National Grid
Metals recovered before or following combustion can be easily recycled
Ash residues can be processed and used as aggregate substitutes
Reduces the UK’s reliance on landfill for waste disposal
Helps local authorities meet Government targets
Reduces our dependency on fossil fuels to generate our electricity
Using waste to produce electricity displaces carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels
WHO REGULATES ENERGY FROM WASTE PLANTS?

EfW is one of the most strictly regulated industries in the UK. The European Incineration Directive sets stringent limits on the levels of emissions from the EfW plants. The Environment Agency monitors the performance of EfW plants on a regular basis and has access to all emissions testing and monitoring results.

WHY DON’T WE RECYCLE INSTEAD?

Local Authorities must recycle or compost at least 33 per cent of municipal waste by 2015. Recycling municipal waste requires considerable investment and stable markets for the end product. Even after this has been resolved, a substantial proportion of municipal waste will still remain.
In many Countries with high recycling rates, EfW is used to offer a complementary disposal route for residual waste as part of an integrated waste management strategy.

ENERGY FROM WASTE IN SURREY

Surrey Waste Management Limited submitted planning applications to build two EfW facilities in Surrey at Copyhold Works, Redhill and Clockhouse Brickworks near Dorking. These were heard on 6th December 2001.

The Copyhold application was refused and the Capel application has been withdrawn.