J&B Recycling Knowledge

This year, J&B Recycling are urging people to ensure they are conscious of their recycling waste as we edge closer to the Christmas period.

The Christmas period generates roughly 30% more waste than the rest of the year and a large portion of that waste finds its way to recycling bins.

Christmas is an extremely busy time for us at J&B, as we sort through thousands of extra tonnes of carboard, glass and other package materials.

Mark Penny, Commercial Manager at J&B Recycling, says of the Christmas period: “The remit for our business is to recycle as much as possible, Christmas time is always a challenge because of the sheer volumes  of waste produced - that’s where the public and our customers can help.”    

Wrapping paper/packaging   

To work out which wrapping paper can be recycled, try the handy ‘Scrunch Test’. If you scrunch the paper into a ball and it stays in that ball shape, you can recycle it. However, if when scrunched it bounces back out of the ball shape, it can’t be recycled.

Its straight forward to check, try to scrunch up the paper into a ball.  If it scrunches, and stays scrunched, it can probably be recycled.  If it bounces back, then it definitely cannot

Check out our handy guide to wrapping paper here.

Christmas Cards

Christmas cards can be recycled as normal in your kerbside recycling, however it is important to remember that if they contain glitter or ribbons etc, this can harm change to prevent the recycling process. Try to opt for card only materials when picking out your Christmas cards and ensure you pop them into your recycling bin come the new year!

Electronics

Out with the old and in with the new. As we receive new fancy electronics as Christmas gifts, we quickly discard of the old devices. Hair driers, radios, TV’s etc. should not be placed in your general waste or recycling bin. At J&B, we provide a range of collection services for businesses to ensure electricals are recycled safely and in an authorised and environmentally acceptable manner. This included a range of electrical appliances such as computers, TVs and many other smaller appliances such as bulbs and batteries.

Householders should ensure that electronics should be taken to HWRCs where there are dedicated container for waste electricals. You should also make sure that any batteries are removed and placed into the specific battery containers at HWRCs or in your local supermarket. Batteries that are not removed and separated can cause risks of fires.

Glass Bottles and Jars

Many of us like to enjoy our favourite tipple around the festive period, but this often results in a much higher number of mixed glasses that are discarded of around this time, including glass bottle waste from both businesses such as bars and pubs and households.

If you’re enjoying a few at home or hosting a party, make sure you don’t put your empties back into the cardboard box and then into the recycling, the glass and cardboard materials need to remain separate and into the correct bins. It’s also important that we don’t use glass bottles or cans as ashtrays or a place to discard your chewing gum.

At J&B Recycling, we provide a glass-only collection service to over 900 businesses, including the hospitality trade. We also bring bank to local authorities for glass bottles and jars, as well as processed thousands of tonnes of kerbside collected glass and mixed recyclables, including glass.

Food Waste

In the UK, more than 4 million tonnes of food is disposed of during December, a lot of which does not need to be discarded and is thrown out in a healthy condition. This is a vast waste of energy, water and the food packaging that is used in production, transport and storage.

Unless your council or business provides a separate, dedicated food waste bin, your food waste should be placed into your general waste bin and not in your mixed recycling bin. Here at J&B, we provide food waste collection only for businesses. Get in touch to find out how we can help your business!

J&B Recycling are based in the North of England. Our commercial collection services operate from the Scottish Borders down to Hull and North Yorkshire. Our main areas for collecting and processing commercial waste include Teesside (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton), Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Get in touch for more information and to request a quote.