New Waste Arrangements

One of the main problems in labelling anywhere is not every item is mentioned and there is not a standardisation throughout the country. Consequently no one is sure if items can be recycled and they are likely to think that" if in doubt" it is better to place the item in the non recycling bin.

For example: where do you place kitchen foil and pale green plastic food trays?

Kitchen foil goes in with the tins surely? Plastic trays in with the plastic? I thought it was just the black plastic that caused issues.
You are right about standardisation around the country though, so many different systems around the country. The cottage we stayed at in the Borders, the area didn’t collect glass, the cottage owner collected it and took it to a recycling centre each week. Our home area has never collected food waste, and still doesn’t. There was no sorting at Ferry Meadows, unless the Wardens did it. Everything in the same bin. That didn’t feel right at all.

Uk is not very progressive. Thirty years ago in Switzerland they sold us a small bag about a foot square for anything we couldn’t put in the nine different recycling bins. All labelled and colour coded in three languages. A lady scowled at me for putting a green wine bottle in the slot for brown wine bottles. 

At home we do add the foil to the tins but we have been on a site where it said not to.

We never recycle black plastic but what do you do about dark brown trays! - there is always that doubt. Maybe the problem is the little photos always show white plastic but never really show the ones you shouldn't recycle. 

We have recently been on a CS where everything was thrown in the same bin and I do wonder what proportion of normally recycled material isn't.

Just had a look Mikey, it’s only clean foil that should be recycled, not food contaminated, so you are right to be wary. 

I cannot give you Chapter and Verse on this one, Mikey, unless you should happen to live in Cheshire East's Domain  ~~ their website is very good at aiming ones junk to the correct place.  BUT one thing I do understand is that plastic food trays IF CLEAN & If carrying the little triangular mark can go in my grey recycle bin. Otherwise I just read the writing on the label (  ) and comply with that !  Its like the plastic wrapping that many loaves come in --  recyclable but only at supermarket  bag for life points, not at kerbsides

Why not chuck all plastic in the relevant bin leaving the waste depot to out-sort anything they do not want which can then go on to an incinerator that will generate electricity from it.

Or am I being too sensible?

what kind of plastic? Our area says to put plastic pop & milk bottles in our blue bin, but that doesn't/shouldn't include plastic yoghurt type pots.

There's too much reliance placed on us, the end user to sort it, they should be targeting the manufacture to use packaging that all areas can recycle. At present there's too  much variation in what different areas can or will recycle. We all need 'dirty MRFs' 😉

And NIMBYs don't want incinerators in their back yards ..... (EmilysMum used to work in waste management) 

It would help if the plastics/packaging industry standardised their material so that "everything" could go in the plastic recycling bin.

The bigger question is why can't all Councils agree on  what colour of bin is for which type of rubbish. Our green waste goes in our green bin ( which makes sense to me) but it changes throughout the country.