Reduce

Avoid buying food packaged in plastic trays wherever possible (i.e. purchase vegetables and fruit loose).

Reuse

You can reuse some plastic food containers (i.e. yoghurt pots used as pots for seedlings or plastic tubs as handy storage containers).

Recycle

You can recycle plastic food pots, tubs and trays using your clear sack or your recycling bank but please rinse them first as any food residue will contaminate the other recyclables in your recycling.  Lids should not be placed in with your other recycling as smaller plastics create problems for the sorting process.

Listed below are examples of the food containers that can be placed in your recycling.

Plastic Trays

  • Plastic Trays (or Bowls)
  • Meat trays (e.g. burgers, usually grey or black)
  • Ready meal bowls/containers (usually black plastic)
  • Microwaveable ready meal bowls/containers (usually clear)
  • Snack containers (e.g. lunch salads, usually clear)
  • Fish containers (e.g. cod fillets, usually clear)
  • Prepared fish containers (e.g. rollmops, prawn cocktails, usually clear)
  • Fresh fruit containers (e.g. strawberries, usually clear)
  • Fresh vegetable containers (e.g. tomatoes, usually black, but sometimes green or clear)
  • Prepared vegetable lidded boxes (e.g. beetroot, usually clear)
  • Containers for bakery goods (e.g. croissants, cupcakes, pastries, usually clear)
  • Black plastic trays with clear plastic lids (e.g. sushi packs)
  • Trays inside boxes of chocolates (usually black or brown)

Plastic Pots

  • Dessert containers (e.g. sundaes, usually clear)
  • Prepared fruit containers (e.g. pineapple, mango, usually clear)
  • Yoghurt Pots (usually coloured)

Plastic Tubs

  • Tubs for bakery goods (e.g. bite-sized flapjacks, usually black or coloured)
  • Dessert mini-pots or tubs (e.g. Gu chocolate, usually black)
  • Tubs for pasta sauces (sometimes clear, sometimes coloured)
  • Ice-Cream Tubs (usually coloured)
  • Margarine Tubs (usually coloured)