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Teignbridge to recycle aluminium

Here's how to check your foil

Aluminium foil trays and household wrapping foil can now be put into black boxes for recycling alongside other metal packaging such as food/drink cans and empty aerosols.

And councillors are urging residents to do the ‘scrunch test’ as a simple way to test if a material is foil or not.

THE SCRUNCH TEST

Scrunch the item in your hand and if it stays scrunched it is aluminium foil and can be recycled. If it springs back open it is metallised plastic film and cannot be recycled.

Dairy lidding, chocolate foil, and foil from ready meal and takeaway trays can be recycled, but items such as crisp packets, drink/baby food/pet food pouches and ‘foil’ wrapping paper cannot.

Cllr Kevin Lake, Teignbridge District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment Services, said: “This is great news for our residents and means recycling will be even easier. People have really risen to the challenge of recycling and I hope this makes life even easier for them. The more we can recycle, the better for our environment.

“An average household can expect to use 182 foil trays and 144 metres of household wrapping foil each year and when you consider that we have 62,040 households across the district, you begin to realise just how much foil is out there available for recycling.

“Teignbridge continues to be one of the best councils for recycling in Devon and that’s largely down to our residents so this is a great opportunity to thank them and say keep up the good work.”


A council spokesman added: “Aluminium foil is endlessly recyclable and recycling uses only five per cent of the energy it takes to produce foil from raw materials. A ready meal tray, if recycled, could become another aluminium product within just a couple of weeks.

“A simple way to test if a material is foil or not is to do the ‘scrunch test’. Scrunch the item in your hand. If it stays scrunched it is aluminium foil and can be recycled. If it springs back open it is metallised plastic film and cannot be recycled. “

The recycling improvement has been supported by Alupro is a not-for-profit company which represents the leading aluminium packaging producers, reprocessors, foil converters, can makers, fillers and brand owners in the UK.

 

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