07-04-2025
Where does your recycling actually go in the UK?
As more households see their refuse collection slashed in order to promote food and plastic recycling, consumers are asking how much of what they put in their green bins is actually recycled.
The government is hoping that its new Simpler Recycling scheme, which will apply to consumers from next year, will drive understanding of what can (and cannot) be recycled in the UK
But there is still some way to go, says Rachel Watkyn, CEO of recycling experts Tiny Box.
Watkyn says that a large amount of recycling still ends up abroad. She told Yahoo News: 'The rate of consumption in the UK far outstrips the technology and recycling facilities available, leaving councils and organisations with no choice but to find other solutions.'
Around half the paper recycled in Britain is "reprocessed" abroad, according to the Confederation of Paper Industries.
Different councils ship paper to different places, with destinations including France, Germany, Malaysia, India and Thailand. This is due to the falling number of UK paper mills, the CPI said, although Britain's existing mills make good use of recycled paper.
Around 80% of paper made in the UK now utilises "recovered paper". The industry has also improved which materials can be recycled, with greasy or stained pizza boxes previously being rejected, but now being reused.
Just 12% of plastic in the UK is actually recycled, according to the Big Plastic Count, with Britons throwing away 100 billion items of plastic waste each year.
Even plastic that goes into 'green bins' in Britain is relatively likely to travel abroad to be recycled.
Turkey remained the top destination for UK exports of plastic last year, according to Basel Action Network, a European NGO that records plastic waste exports.
British exports of plastic waste increased to 598 million kilos a year in 2024, with exports to Turkey increasing to 151 million kg/yr from 141 million last year.
The next most popular destinations for UK plastic waste were the Netherlands, Poland (where exports doubled in 2024) and Vietnam.
Britain's aluminium recycling rate hit 68% in 2023, with more than four in five aluminium drinks cans being recycled.
Most of this is recycled in the UK, with just 13% travelling outside the UK and EU to be recycled, according to the National Packaging Waste Database.
Some councils offer large bins where clothes and shoes can be recycled, but a relatively small amount are recycled or sold within the UK.
The materials in the bins is hand-sorted into Grade A (wearable, no marks), which is often sent to charity shops, or Grade B (wearable, marks).
Clothes with marks are often sent abroad, Rachel Watkyn, said CEO of recycling experts Tiny Box. Key destinations include Ghana, Pakistan and the UAE.
But the rise of 'fast fashion' poses another problem, with cheaper clothing often unable to be reused after it has been discarded, Watkyn explained.
Watkyn said: "The clothing sector is the second most polluting in the world and due to an ever increasing need for faster, cheaper fashion, less and less clothing can actually be recycled and the quality of the fabric makes it worthless."
Some councils and recycling locations accept electrical goods, including items such as PCs and phones.
These goods are typically broken down into small pieces, some of which are recycled.
However, globally, e-waste recycling is in a very poor position, according to the UN.
A record 62 million tonnes of e-waste was produced in 2022, up 82% from 2010, and this is projected to rise another 32% by 2030.
Used electrical and white goods are often shipped to countries including the US, Ukraine and China, Watkyn explained, although not all of the material can be recycled.
