The plastic recycling maze - recent changes are a step in the right direction

 After the reports highlighting how little plastic is actually recycled, it is good to see that the major supermarkets have improved the range of plastics that they will now accept to be recycled. This is at least a step in the right direction.

Just to make life a little more complicated each supermarket has a slightly different list of the plastics it will accept, but they will all accept plastics that at present cannot be taken by the council.

Here is a brief summary:

At Morrisons you can now recycle single use facemasks in collaboration with the Sun newspaper. For more details see: Recycle Your Single-Use Facemasks - Morrisons Blog

Tesco will now accept cling film, crisp packets, salad bags, fruit and veg packaging, pet food and baby food pouches.

Sainsburys are now recycling flexible (PP) plastics which includes biscuit and cake wrappers, salad bags and crisp packets.

The Co-op recycling includes clean sweet wrappers, crisp packets and pet food pouches.

These items are of course in addition to the plastic which can be recycled at a store with plastic carrier bag recycling - namely bread bags, freezer bags, toilet roll or kitchen towel wrappers, wrappers from multipack cans or bottles, cereal packet inners and frozen veg bags.

So it's not ideal and not easy to remember but this gives us all the ability to recycle more. I have halved what goes to landfill by recycling some of the plastics above. Check out the list where ever you shop and contribute! Maybe take a photo rather than try and remember?

This is our chance to take back a lot of the plastic the supermarkets generate.

 For more information the Recycle Devon website gives comprehensive information on all types of recycling.

"We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. What we need is millions of people doing it imperfectly."

Anne Tucker