When something can not be refilled or reused in some way, recycling is the next step. We have put together some local information about what can be recycled in Gloucestershire, and where. Recycling has an environmental footprint of its own, requiring fuel and emitting greenhouse gases. Unlike some other materials like aluminium, plastic cannot be recycled indefinitely and the recycled product will likely be of a lesser quality than its predecessor. You can find more information about this on our page on recycling facts and alternatives to plastic.
What plastic can be recycled by the council?
Your local district/borough council deals with kerbside collections, and there is information available online as follows: Cheltenham, Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud District, Tewkesbury
A wider range of recycling facilities is available at your local Household Recycling Centre (tip).
There is also a search tool for local recycling banks at Recycle Now.
In the Stroud district, we also have the following for guidance on recycling different types of plastic:
Local Community Recycling Schemes
We are working on a project to pull together the wide range of non-council recycling opportunities locally, many of them operated under the Terracycle scheme. For now here is a short list of some local options that we are aware of.
- Soft plastic packaging is collected at Co-op, Sainsbury and Tesco supermarkets. There are usually also bins for plastic shopping bags
- Chalford Hill Primary School – checklist of items that can be recycled
- The Greenshop, Calf Way, Bisley – checklist of items that can be recycled
- Stroud Valleys Project, Eco Shop in Threadneedle Street, Stroud – dental goods, some beauty items, bread, cheese, biscuit and snack bar packaging, printer cartridges, coins, stamps, jewellery and coffee packaging.
- Printer cartridges are collected by James & Owen in Stroud, and many schools
- Water filters are collected by Brutons, Nailsworth
- Cosmetic containers are collected at Boots in Cheltenham & Yate
- Confectionery wrappers are collected at Price’s Mill surgery, Nailsworth
- Dental supplies are collected at most dentists
- Glasses can be left at most opticians
- Garden plastics (broken and intact) and VHS casettes are accepted by The Butterfly Garden, Cheltenham
- Pill packets (blister packs) are collected at certain branches of Superdrug, including the one in Stroud (at the pharmacy counter)
- Many of the Terracycle schemes are collected by Kicks Count, Cheltenham
- Single use mask collection at Wilco, Cheltenham (not elsewhere in the county, at time of writing)
- Let us know if you know of more!
Plastic recycling tips
- Rinse plastic recycling before placing in green bin – this ensures that the feed is kept as clean as possible and the maximum amount of plastic can be recycled.
- Crush plastic bottles before replacing the cap, to ensure that they take up the minimum amount of space in the van (fewer trips = lower carbon emissions) and the cap is recycled along with the bottle.
- Recycle soft, non-crinkly plastic (eg freezer bags, bubble wrap, some magazine sleeves, cereal packet inners) by putting in the carrier bag recycling crate at the supermarket.
- Do not include any compostable or biodegradable plastic materials – some magazines now come in compostable film, which should be clearly labelled as such.
- Having a recycling bin upstairs to collect bathroom plastic waste may ensure you recycle more.
Download this local Terracycle scheme poster:
Image credit: Paweł Czerwiński, Unsplash