Why recycle?

It's time to rethink our habits to try to reduce and reuse the waste we are responsible for. Here are the main benefits of recycling what’s left.

Save £½ million

Last year Westminster residents saved £½ million by recycling. The more that is recycled in Westminster, the more money can be saved and spent on other frontline services.

• Recycling costs £30 per tonne to be processed
• Rubbish costs £53 per tonne to be disposed of

Save natural resources...and generate new materials instead

Raw materials such as wood, metal ores, petroleum and sand can be replaced with the materials collected through your recycling service to make new products.

Did you know...

• 90% of the paper used for British newspapers is recycled
• Glass is 100% recyclable; it can be recycled again and again
• The average drinks can is made of 50% recycled aluminium

Plastic bottles, once separated from your recycling, are sent to the Closed-Loop Recycling facility in Dagenham, Kent, where the bottles are recycled into new plastic bottles for use principally by Marks & Spencer PLC.

More details are available from Closed Loop Recycling.

Watch the video on plastic bottle recycling.  

Save energy

Less energy is needed to process recyclables than to extract new raw materials. 

Did you know...

• Recycling two bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea.
• Recycling 1 tin can would save enough energy to power a television for 3 hours.

Cut your carbon footprint

By saving resources and energy, recycling is the most carbon-saving method of disposal.

The figure below shows the variation in the potential lifecycle greenhouse gas performance of recycling, incineration and landfilling for the dry recyclables currently collected as part of the blue bag recycling scheme operated by Westminster City Council.

Current UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.

Keep manufacturing local

Most of the material streams separated out at the materials recovery facility (MRF) are sold freely on the market.

In 2010 there was a huge demand for recycled materials seeing most of the MRF’s output go straight to processing facilities within the UK, supporting local businesses and local employment.

Neutralise hazardous chemicals

Batteries, electrical equipment, low-energy light bulbs and garden chemicals all contain hazardous substances such as heavy metals, and should not be disposed of with your normal waste.

Recycling ensures these substances are contained and treated according to EU legislation, preventing their leaching into watercourses or dispersion into the atmosphere.

Find out how to recycle these items in the Recycling A-Z.

Further information

Find out more about recycling from Recycle Now.