What Goes into the Clear Sack?

Please ensure that you only place clean items into the clear recycling sack.  We ask that residents rinse out the tins/cans and plastic bottles before they put them into the clear sack.  

Like most other authorities in the UK we can only accept plastic bottles for recycling, at the moment.  Unfortunately, we are unable to use one of the few UK-based sites that can recycle items such as yogurt pots and margarine tubs.

Many people ask us why we can’t accept all items that have the recycling symbol known as the ‘mobius loop’ printed on them. This recycling symbol often causes confusion.  Just because some packaging displays this symbol does not mean that it can be readily recycled.  The symbol means that the item can be recycled where facilities exist.  Sometimes these recycling facilities are not available in this country and it is not economical to recycle the items abroad.

Some plastics will display the mobius loop with a number in the middle.  This shows what type of plastic the item is made out of.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that we can identify the types of plastic that can go into the clear sack by using these numbers, as some plastic bottles and plastic wrapping share the same number.

We cannot accept glass in the clear sack.  At the moment we do not offer a recycling collection service for glass, but there is a large number of glass recycling banks across the district.  If you are unable to get to a recycling bank with your glass bottles and jars please place them into your grey bin.

Once we have collected your clear sacks we take them to a company called Severnside who have a depot in Plymouth.  Here the clear sacks are opened and the different materials are separated both mechanically and by hand, any items that have been incorrectly placed into the sack are removed.  The different types of materials are then baled and sold on the open market to companies that need them to make something else.