
Recycling: The real cost of contamination
How much do we really understand about the process of recycling? With attitudes ranging from the obsessive to the ambivalent when it comes to our waste products, it’s time to lift the lid on the cost of contamination.
How is recycling contaminated?
Even if you are passionate about recycling your waste, the alarming lack of transparency around recycling practices means that well-meaning households are inadvertently guilty of contamination. WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) report that in the last year, around 525,000 tonnes of recycling was rejected due to contamination.
Unfortunately, this is not limited to just an unwashed container. It’s true that food residue, grease, and water can render entire batches of cardboard, paper, plastic, and even glass unrecyclable. So where are we going wrong? Here are some of the main issues:
- Containment. Putting your recycling inside a plastic bag.
- Food waste. Grease on cardboard, unrinsed jars, residue in containers. Any recycling with food residue is likely to end up in landfill.
- The ‘wrong’ plastics. Unfortunately, many plastics still aren’t recyclable and including them in your household recycling can contaminate the process.
- Wrong materials. Putting glass in with plastic, or paper with glass, etc.
- Hazardous waste. This can be either non-biological, for example; paint, pesticides, oils, or biological, such as nappies, sanitary products, and syringes.
Impact of recycling contamination on the environment.
Currently, it is estimated that 525, 000 tonnes of recyclable materials are rejected due to contamination every year. This figure is just from household waste alone. That’s over half a million tonnes of recycling going to landfill or an incinerator. With the UK alone generating this much waste, it’s a bleak outlook when considering the whole of the developed world.
The cost of recycling contamination to the council
The LGA (Local Government Association) estimates that contaminated recycling costs councils around £93 per tonne (rates will vary between councils). Using this figure, it’s estimated that the additional cost of contamination is around £48 million per year.
Besides monetary cost, contaminated recycling can put employees at recycling centres at risk and can negate the efforts of other households who are being as diligent as possible about their waste disposal.
Step it up!
The good news is that you can make small yet meaningful changes to reduce the amount of recycling going to landfill. As well as making sure that your recycling is correctly sorted and washed, you can demand better from your local council.
Cuts to council budgets over the last decade seem to have had a profound effect on the process as a whole. Organisations such as the LGA, WRAP and SUEZ have all highlighted the need for clear communications around the quality of recycling. You can email your MP to highlight this issue or raise awareness in your community
It’s also worth noting that WRAP has stressed that ultimately, the biggest change must come from manufacturers themselves. Cllr David Renard, the Environment spokesperson for the LGA, said:
“At a time when councils are working towards achieving net zero, they are doing so with one hand tied behind their back courtesy of manufacturers who are littering our communities with plastic they know cannot be disposed of sustainably.”
It’s time that manufacturers take responsibility for their produce and this will happen by customers voting with their feet. With more and more eco swaps becoming available, larger-scale manufacturers will have to adapt and respond.
How to effectively recycle your Truthpaste Jar
Did you know that one of the worst culprits for contamination is toothpaste tubes? This was part of the inspiration behind us using our cute little jars. Not only are they easy to clean but glass is can be recycled infinitely. Find out more of the benefits of recycling glass.
Always make sure that your glass is cleaned thoroughly if you are putting it in with your glass recycling. The lids and labels can be left on jars when you recycle them, so it really couldn’t be easier to be greener.
Resources
Gate fees report (2019/2020) Comparing the costs of alternative waste treatment options
WRAP [Accessed Sep 2021]
Robyn White (June 2021)https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/wrap-unveils-recycle-week-theme/ [Accessed September 2021]
Oliver Franklin-Wallis (Aug 2019) htps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/17/plastic-recycling-myth-what-really-happens-your-rubbish, Guardian Online [Accessed Aug 2020]
Laurie Clarke, (Aug 2019) https://www.wired.co.uk/article/recycling-myths-busted, Wired Online/Science, [Accessed September 2021]
WRAP, https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/5-top-tips-reduce-contamination, Recyclenow.com [Accessed September 2021]
WRAP, https://www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/plastic-tubes, recyclesnow.com [Accessed August 2021]
Dr Adam Read, external affairs director, SUEZ Recycling & Recovery UK (2018), Quality and the need to manage contamination, letsrecycle.com, [Accessed September 21]
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Let customers speak for us
from 1462 reviewsI’ve been using truthpaste fennel flavour for ages since making an impulse buy at a farmers market…I used to have painfully sensitive teeth, but no more, this stuff works for me …no going back, I love it!

I’m chuffed to bits I found Truthpaste! My teeth were not in finest form and just a few weeks later they are almost pain free. I am waiting to see the dentist about a fissure in my molar and the pain is gone! I couldn’t even eat on the left side. What a relief🦷🤍I’ll be ordering my top up very soon. The only thing I need to get used to is the taste. It is good don’t get me wrong but it is quite tasteless after using sensitive toothpaste my whole life, just need to get used to a more natural flavour. Thank you so much 😁

The best tasting best clean feeling toothpaste ever.
A fantastic product.
I will never use any other brand

I have been using this toothpaste for just over a year now and will never go back! My dentist even asked what I was doing as my oral hygiene was brilliant! My gums are far less sensitive and my mouth biome is restored. Thank you.

A milder flavour than the original. My gums have stopped bleeding and are growing back. Great product.

I've had allergies to toothpaste and struggled with bleeding and receeding gums since pregnancy 20 years ago. My gums are no longer bleeding, they are growing back. Mouth feels clean. Not the nicest taste, but a small price to pay for a healthier mouth.

Highly recommend on my 3rd bottle now.

Really good bundle. Definitely recommend. Glad I got as a bundle also brought the mouth wash and love it. Will be re ordering again once used all the toothpaste.

Really good. Highly recommend. Even as the wire is bendy it’s able to go around the teeth better and I love it. Feel like I’m getting a really good clean.

Amazing stuff! Go through it so quickly had to order another 2. Would highly recommend. The mint taste is also very strong and lasts a lot longer then most other mouth washes.

I have purchased this twice ,and love it . My dentist has noticed the difference,I think it would be difficult to go back to other toothpaste

I have deep pockets around my teeth, so I use a water flosser to remove the gunk. To my amazment, since using this product, I can report that just a 1/4 of gunk is now washed out of my mouth using the flosser- which tells me my gums are now shrinking around my teeth and they no longer bleed either! This I would never had believed was possible!

Original: Peppermint & Wintergreen (100ml)

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