Know Your Plastic And Recycling

In Australia and all around the world, there are many different types of plastic in use – around 40 kinds, in fact.

It’s important to take note of your plastic use habits and realise how much you rely on it. Then you will be in the perfect position to try and reuse, reduce and recycle plastic in your home, which will help the environment and also quite likely save you some money.

What is plastic made out of?

Plastic is man-made, created from resources such as gas, oil and coal, known as fossil fuels. The trouble with this is that some of these resources are finite and, eventually, we will run out of them. Then what?

The low-down on plastic recycling

When you recycle plastic, rather than just throwing in the bin, the materials are sorted and recycled. They are shredded into small pieces, washed, melted, stretched and moulded into a new product. Isn’t it amazing what technology can do these days? New products can include wheelie bins, bags, furniture, pipes, clothing, crates, bottles and more.

Get your recycling right

Not all items can be put in your roadside rubbish and recycling collection. Most councils will collect drink bottles and milk containers, shampoo bottles, ice cream and yogurt containers, but remember not to bundle them in plastic bags as items must be loose.

Soft plastics, such as cling wraps, plastic bags and some plastic toys are not usually collected as they can cause trouble in the recycling and sorting process. That’s why it’s a good idea to use items such as reusable sandwich wrap and reusable shopping bags so that you don’t have to send this unrecyclable waste to landfill.