Question of the Month
Q. How can I recycle ink cartridges?
A. Ink cartridges can be recycled at Household Waste Recycling Centres. Alternatively they can be sent to Action Aid Recycling (www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk) who seek to reduce waste and poverty by recycling mobile phones and ink cartridges. Green Tech Recycling Green Tech Recycling (www.gtrecycling.com) is a local based company who also recycle ink cartridges and make a donation to charity.
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Questions & Answers
Here are some frequently asked questions that we have answered. If your question is not answered below, simply ask us a question and we will get back to you shortly. Check out the site regularly for new questions and answers.
Got a question on a particular material? Check out our material recycling page.
- How can I recycle ink cartridges?
- Where can I recycle carrier bags?
- Where can I recycle our Christmas tree?
- How can I recycle old electrical goods?
- How can I compost my food waste?
- Can I put aluminium foil in can banks/ where can I recycle foil?
- Why does my council only collect plastic bottles?
- What types of plastic can I recycle?
- Why should I cut down on plastic carrier bags?
- Can you put nappies in the kerbside composting collection?
- Can you put raw meat, cooked meat and bones in the organic composting collections?
- How do I get a recycling box/ bin or sack?
- Can you put envelopes with windows in your recycling bin?
- Can you put rabbit/guinea pig/hamster sawdust, bedding and waste into the green waste and organic collections?
- Where can I recycle batteries?
- How can I recycle CD's?
- Where can I buy a can crusher?
- Where is my nearest recycling bank?
- Where can I get a home compost bin?
How can I recycle ink cartridges?
Ink cartridges can be recycled at Household Waste Recycling Centres. Alternatively they can be sent to Action Aid Recycling (www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk) who seek to reduce waste and poverty by recycling mobile phones and ink cartridges. Green Tech Recycling Green Tech Recycling (www.gtrecycling.com) is a local based company who also recycle ink cartridges and make a donation to charity.
Where can I recycle carrier bags?
It is so much better to use reusable alternatives to carrier bags, such as rucksacks, cloth bags, or a 'bag for life', which you can pick up from some supermarkets. Some supermakets also provide recycling banks for your carrier bags. Sainsburys, Tesco and Somerfield have this facility at some stores.
Where can I recycle our Christmas tree?
Christmas trees can be recycled through your green or organic kerbside collections or taken to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre. For your nearest site visit our recycling rubbish/ location/ cambridgeshire County Council page.
How can I recycle old electrical goods?
Electrical items can either be re-used if they are in good condition or recycled. If it can be re- used you can take it to a local community group. See the Community Network page under our Campaign Section. If you want it to be recycled you can take it to your local household Waste recycling centre. Note: When you dispose of computers it is your responsibility to destroy or remove the hard drive as this may still contain your personal information.
How can I compost my food waste?
If you live in Peterborough City please use a home compost bin. You can compost most food waste except meat, bones and dairy products. Peterborough City Council does not collect food waste in the brown bin scheme. This should be used for garden waste only. If you live in Cambridgeshire you can put food waste into your green or brown composting bin or paper sack. Some partners provide kitchen caddies to make collection of these materials easy. Just empty the contents into your bin or sack when full.
Can I put aluminium foil in can banks/ where can I recycle foil?
Can recycling banks are only for cans, not foil. Clean foil is collected at kerbside black box in Cambridge City, and blue bins in Fenland and huntingdonshire. Foil can be also be placed in the scrap metal skip at Household Waste Recycling Centres ( HWRC'S). Foil can be difficult for councils to collect for recycling as it is made differently from cans and therefore needs to be separated to be recycled.
Why does my council only collect plastic bottles?
Other containers such as margarine tubs, plastic trays and yoghurt pots are made from a different type of plastic than bottles. There are no viable markets for these types and therefore they cannot be collected. Local councils have to consider both environmental and financial factor when collecting materials and can only collect materials for which there are markets.
What types of plastic can I recycle?
Local council's only collect Plastic Bottles. Please remove the lids and squash them to save space. Lids cannot be recycled. These cover a wide range of products from milk, squash, shampoo and coke bottles. Please see our Recycling Rubbish section for more information about plastic.
Why should I cut down on plastic carrier bags?
It is estimated that around 17.5 billion plastic bags are used in the UK every year - that's about 290 plastic bags per person! Research also shows that plastic carrier bags are used in average for 20 minutes before being put in the bin. All this plastic ends up in landfill- what a waste! Even though more bags are being made to rot away, air and sunlight is needed for this. Landfills have no air or light so bags that have only been used once for 20 minutes will sit there for decades if not hundreds of years! Reusing plastic bags from the supermarket, buying bags for life or using stronger material bags will cut down on how many bags we use and send to landfill.
Can you put nappies in the kerbside composting collection?
Sorry the anwser is no. It is not possible to compost nappies(even eco biodegradable ones) through kerbside collection schemes as it can be dangerous to health. They should not be put into home compost bins either.
Can you put raw meat, cooked meat and bones in the organic composting collections?
Yes, as a Cambridgeshire resident you can put these items into your kerbside composting collection (green or brown bin or brown sack) It is perfectly okay to wrap it in newspaper too, if you wish, to keep your bin cleaner. Please note meat, diary and cooked food should not be home composted.
How do I get a recycling box/ bin or sack?
If you have just moved to a new house and do not have a recycling container or a recycling/ refuse collection calendar then please contact your local Recycling Officer. The contact numbers can be found on our Contacts and links page. The contact numbers can be found on our Contacts and links page under Council Contacts. Alternatvely we can pass on your details to the relevant officer.
Can you put envelopes with windows in your recycling bin?
Envelopes with windows cannot be recycled or composted unless the plastic wondow is removed first. To find out how you should recycled or compost these visit our recycling rubbish section to check details for you local scheme.
Can you put rabbit/guinea pig/hamster sawdust, bedding and waste into the green waste and organic collections?
If you are a Peterborough resident then the best thing to do is to home compost it as it is not collected in the kerbside scheme. Mix it in well to your heap. If you live in Cambridgehsire you can either home compost it or include in your collection. Please not not include waste from cat and dog litter trays in home compost bins or kerbside composting collections.
Where can I recycle batteries?
Both domestic and car batteries can now be recycled at HWRC'S. Please see our recycling rubbish/ Location/ County Council section to see which is nearest to you. As of June 2007 Cambridge City Council have also arranged a collection point for household batteries (excluding car batteries) at Waitrose in Trumpington, with a view to setting up further similar collection points in the future.
How can I recycle CD's?
Sadly there is no technology available at the moment (at least not locally) to actually crush and recycle CD's, and it whether they can be reused in any way may depend on the CD'S. The following website contains some information about possible outlets. Click on recycle and then CDs. www.reuze.co.uk
Where can I buy a can crusher?
Search for crushers in the shopping section on www.recyclenow.com
Where is my nearest recycling bank?
There are two options to find your nearest bank: 1. Contact your local Recycling Officer (see Contacts and Links page). 2. Click on " Find your local recycling scheme" at the top of the page.
Where can I get a home compost bin?
Any Cambridgeshire and Peterborough resident can purchase a subsidised home compost bin though our Home composting special offer. See our Rubbish Information section for more information on composting.
