Frequently asked questions
- Who do I need to speak to about my waste issue?
- Why can't I recycle more plastics at Household Waste Recycling Centres?
- Where can I find details on buying a composter at a reduced rate?
- How can I introduce / increase recycling at my school?
- Where can I recycle my old Yellow Pages?
- How can I arrange for my company's waste and recycling to be collected?
- Why are there no facilities for recycling 'Tetrapak' drink cartons?
- What happens to the materials which I leave for recycling at the Household Waste Recycling Centres?
- Are there any re-use schemes available for me to buy or sell my unwanted household items?
- Where can I buy recycled products?
- What is meant by the recycling symbols on goods?
Who do I need to speak to about my waste issue?
Use this link to find out who should be contacted for each particular question. Your District or Borough Council is your Waste Collection Authority, and provides kerbside collections and 'bring banks' in your area. Hertfordshire County Council is the Waste Disposal Authority and provides the Household Waste Recycling Centres.
Why can't I recycle more plastics?
Plastic recycling is an important issue for many people, but for recycling to take place there needs to be a sustainable market for the end product, and reprocessing facilities within a sensible geographic range. Recycling plastic is beneficial but as it is so light refuse vehicles need to transport large volumes for low tonnages. This makes it less economically and environmentally viable to recycle plastic in comparison with other materials.
Many of today's items are made of plastic, yet your household items made of plastic are likely to be many different types. For instance, plastic bottles are polyethylene, margarine tubs are polypropylene, and yoghurt pots polystyrene. This makes them complicated to recycle and there are very few reprocessors able to recycle the full range of plastic types. The Household Waste Recycling Centres currently provide facilities for plastic bottles and some sites can recycle carrier bags. Some sites are also trialling the collection of rigid plastics. See here for details. Some District and Borough councils are also running plastic bottle recycling schemes at local banks or in kerbside collections.
Where can I find details on buying a composter at a reduced rate?
Hertfordshire County Council are currently offering residents the chance to purchase a composter for as little as £18. Composting is a great way to both reduce waste, and generate a valuable resource for your garden. You can find more information on this offer and advice on what to do to achieve the most from your compost here.
How can I introduce / increase recycling at my school?
Your school goes through large amounts of paper which can easily be recycled. Contact your District or Borough Council to enquire whether a paper collection scheme is available. Alternatively, the Apsley Paper Trail in Hemel Hempstead may be able to collect paper for free, through their collection service. You can also help reduce waste by purchasing a composter to dispose of uncooked fruit/vegetable kitchen waste, such as apple cores. A composter can be bought at a reduced price through Hertfordshire County Council's offer. WasteAware have launched 'Challenge Waste' education packs for Keystages 2 and 3, which offer useful information on introducing waste as a topic into everyday teaching, and promoting children's interest in organising recycling facilities for the school. The packs are also aimed at encouraging children to reduce, re-use and recycle their waste. They have been delivered to all schools in Hertfordshire. The packs can also be accessed online here. You can also contact your local district or borough council to find out about any bins you can obtain for recycling other materials.
Where can I recycle my old Yellow Pages?
Whereas some coloured paper is dyed simply on the surface, Yellow Pages used to be dyed throughout their fibres, meaning they cannot always be recycled together with normal white paper. This presents a problem with recycling vast, bulky directories. Some Hertfordshire Councils participate in the yearly Yellow Woods challenge in conjunction with the Woodland Trust, whereby schools will accept old copies of the directory, and are awarded cash prizes for recycling the most. The scheme runs every year when the new directories are issued. Contact your local Recycling Officer for information about the challenge and whether their paper reprocessor will accept them.
Yellow Pages might be accepted with your kerbside paper recycling scheme. Contact your local district or borough council for further details. Yellow Pages can be recycled in the paper banks.
How can I arrange for my company's waste and recycling to be collected?
You may be able to have your trade and business waste be collected by your District or Borough Council, as the Waste Collection Authority. Please enquire there. Should this collection route not be possible, the WasteAware website holds information for companies who can collect waste and recyclables from your business premises, and supply material containers and bins. Please note that any waste arising from business activity is not accepted at the Household Waste Recycling Centres.
Why are there so few facilities for recycling 'Tetrapak' drink cartons?
Tetrapak drink cartons, such as milk, juice and soup cartons, are made of paperboard, low density polyethylene, wax, and aluminium foil. Due to their complex make-up they must be recycled separately from other cardboard. Bring banks recycling tetrapak cartons are now in several locations across Hertfordshire. Use the search at the top of this page to find your nearest facility.
What happens to the materials I leave for recycling at the Household Waste Recycling Centres?
A vast range of materials can be taken to your local HWRC for recycling. For example, from here, paper is taken to a reprocessor where it is recycled into newsprint. Here it is mixed with water and pulped. Soap and chemicals are added to release the ink from the fibres. Plastics, metal, grit and other unwanted materials are removed through screening and centrifugal cleaning equipment. Passing the pulp through a series of flotation cells allows ink removal where the ink is floated off the paper and, following further treatment, the cleaned fibres are ready to be turned into the newsprint. The pulp is ninety-nine parts water and one part fibre when injected between two wire meshes to form a damp paper web on the newsprint machines. This paper web is passed through a series of presses and over steam-heated drying cylinders. The final machine process includes further successive treatments of pressure and heat to the paper for the optimum printing surface. For further information on recycling processes, search our A-Z of materials.
Are there any re-use schemes available for me to buy or sell my unwanted household items?
Re-using everyday items greatly reduces the amount of waste sent for disposal. WasteAware promotes the message that items are not rubbish if they can be re-used. Many household items are very bulky, and, where re-use is possible, straight disposal results in a waste of resources. There are furniture recycling projects in Hertfordshire that can collect and redistribute your used or unused furniture for re-use, to people in need, and are listed here. You can also buy used items from forums such as FreeCycle, who have groups set up for towns around the county, and have a wide range of items available for sale and collection, including toys and chests of drawers. You can also contact your nearest charity shop to see if they could use your item. You can find out where your nearest charity shop is here.
Where can I buy recycled products?
To maximise the benefits of recycling, a market needs to exist for the selling of recycled products. Buying such items makes the recycling industry more sustainable, and can have an impact on the types of materials which are widely recycled. There is a variety of places where you can buy recycled goods. For example, the Recycled Products Guide allows you to search by postcode for a wide range of household items from chairs and garden equipment to stationery, and lists the recycled make-up of each material.
What is meant by the recycling symbols on goods?
Products and packaging often have some kind of recycling symbol on them. The most common is the mobius loop (see below), which can mean that a product is either recyclable or has some recycled content. Unless the product states the percentage of recycled content, the symbol usually means that the product can be recycled. This does not mean that it will be recycled in your area. Many products can be recycled in theory, but the technology or money may not be available to provide collection schemes for householders.
The Mobius Loop
Recyclable Aluminium
The Green Dot Symbol
Make sure that you follow any guidance prepared by your local authority explaining more specifically what can and can't be accepted for recycling in your area.