Shopping guide - Bristol City Council

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this leaflet why not pass it on
to a friend, recycle it in your
black box or tear it up and
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Designed by Bristol City Council, Corporate Design. GRA4618. Feb 06. Photographs courtesy of recyclenow.com
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Printed on
recycled paper
Bristol's
waste free
shopping
guide
How to pack in packaging

Are you shopping
for rubbish?
The choices you make whilst shopping significantly affect the
amount of rubbish sent to landfill. It is estimated that for every
tonne of household rubbish produced, another 10 tonnes of
waste is created in manufacturing and packaging the product.
Next time you are in the supermarket think about the items you
are going to buy and recognise how much waste they will
produce. This guide will help you to reduce waste and save
money by making small changes to your shopping habits. Not
only will this reduce your waste but it will also save you money.
At the shops
■ Make a list. Plan your shopping
needs and jot them down. You
will save money, time and never
have that feeling that you have
forgotten something.
■ Don’t buy more than you need.
Keep an eye on items that you
keep buying but go off, or pass
their sell by date before you
use them. Up to 40% of all food
purchases are thrown away.
■ Don’t be caught out by 2 for 1
offers on items that go off easily;
only buy what you need.
Packaging
Plastic carrier bags
▼
fact The UK generates around
▼
fact
10 million tonnes of
packaging waste every year – almost
10% of the total waste generated.
Supermarkets are legally required to
recover or recycle a percentage of
packaging from the goods they sell
(Producer Responsibility – Packaging
Waste Regulations 2005).
In addition to this Asda, Boots,
Budgens, the Co-operative Group,
Londis, Iceland, Kwik Save, Marks
& Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s,
Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose have
all joined forces with WRAP (the
Waste & Resources Action
Programme). They have pledged to:
■ stop an increase in packaging
waste by 2008.
■ make reductions in packaging
waste by March 2010.
■ identify ways to tackle the
problem of food waste.
▼
act
Buy food with less
packaging and avoid
‘single portion packaging’.
Fill in a customer comment card at
your supermarket asking them to
use less packaging.
Some 150 million plastic
carrier bags are used in
the UK every week. Each one takes
up to 500 years to decay in a
landfill site.
The wastefulness of the single-use
plastic carrier bag is something we
can all avoid.
▼
act
Refuse
plastic
bags where
possible. If there
is a paper bag
option, use that
and recycle them
in your black box
or compost
them later.
Keep a few reusable shopping bags
in the car or near the front door.
Keep a small cotton bag folded in
your bag so that you’ll always have
one to hand.
If you forget your own bag, re-use
the shop’s carrier bags for lining
rubbish bins, or other jobs around
the house.
Consider using a delivery service (it
can be better to have one van
supplying an area than dozens of
people using their cars). Unpack the
goods at once; you can give the
plastic bags back to the driver,
asking for them to be reused.

How to pack in
packaging
Tin foil and
aluminium and
steel cans
fact
▼
Every year in the UK
almost 5 billion drinks
in aluminium cans are consumed.
Around 80 million steel and
aluminium cans end up in landfill
sites every day. An aluminium can
sent for recycling today can be made
into a new one, filled and be back on
the shelf in just six weeks.
act
▼
Recycle your tins, cans and
foil in your black box or at
your local recycling centre.
Reuse foil trays as seed trays or use
them for freezing leftovers.
Buy grease proof paper instead of
tin foil for wrapping sandwiches, this
can then be torn up and composted
afterwards.
Plastic containers
fact
▼
Many plastic containers
cannot be “easily”
recycled. However some yoghurt
pots are made of thin plastic, but
have a cardboard cover which can be
torn off and recycled or composted.
Try to buy these yoghurt pots and
not the thick plastic type – these
cannot be recycled at present.
act
▼
Try and reuse as many
plastic containers as
possible. Use plastic pots for
seedlings or as paint pots for
children. Ice cream
tubs can be used to
store children’s toys,
leftovers in the
fridge, or other
items in the kitchen
and garage and for
packed lunches.
Polythene and
cling film
fact
▼
Fruit, vegetables, meat,
bakery produce and ready
meals are usually sold covered in
either polythene (LDPE) or cling film
(PVC). The trays are made of a
different sort of plastic and they
sometimes have an absorbent square
of porous material placed at the base
of the tray. This absorbs any
moisture. A paper label is then stuck
on the goods. The packaging now
consists of a range of incompatible
plastics, paper, and glue – a
recycler’s nightmare!
act
▼
Try to avoid pre-packaged
goods altogether. Buy
loose rather than pre-packed fruit
and vegetables. This way you get the
amount you actually need. Try to
avoid over-packaged ready meals,
and buy meat and fish from the
appropriate
counters where
you will get less
packaging.
Polythene
wrappers and
bags from
magazines and
newspapers can be
recycled if you post
them to Polyprint at
your own expense
(address below).
Please remove any labels and add
your name and address, so you can
be contacted if there is a query
about the type of plastic you are
sending. It takes approximately
200,000 polythene wrappers to
make one tonne of recyclable waste,
which is turned into black plastic bin
liners and fertiliser sacks.
Send your polythene wrappers and
bags to: Polyprint Mailing Films,
Mackintosh Road, Rackheath
Industrial Estate, Rackheath, Norwich
NR13 6LJ Telephone 01603 721807.

Plastic bottles
fact
▼
If plastic bottles have a
triangle symbol, the letters
PET or HDPE and numbers 1, 2, or 3,
they are high-grade plastic. This can
be recycled and made into fleece
clothing, drain pipes or garden
furniture.
act
▼
Recycle plastic bottles at
the Household Waste
Recycling Centres (at St Philips
and Avonmouth) or at local recycling
centres across the city. Wash and
squash them first. To find out where
your nearest plastic bottle recycling
bank is visit www.recyclemore.co.uk
It’s easy to use, just enter your
postcode or look on www.bristolcity.gov.uk/recycling
Alternatively you can reuse plastic
bottles in the garden!
Cardboard
fact
▼
Recycled cardboard is
primarily used to make
boxes and other packaging, but has
a range of other uses including
stationery, animal bedding and
even coffins!
act
▼
Recycle your cardboard at
the Household Waste
Recycling Centres at St Philips and
Avonmouth. Egg boxes and toilet
rolls can be used in craft projects.
Alternatively, you can compost some
cardboard. Just scrunch it up and
throw it in with other kitchen scraps.
It will provide some air pockets and
absorb some moisture, and will help
to produce a high quality compost.
Tetra Pak
fact
▼
Tetra Pak is used to
package milk, juice and
soup. It is made up of 75% paper,
20% polyethylene and 5% aluminium.
Composite materials are hard to
recycle. At present, there is only
one recycling plant in the UK, and
the onus is on the consumer, not the
producer.
Tetra Paks
are pulped
and the
recovered
fibre is
made into
paper
products
such as fast
food bags.
act
▼
Buy juice and soup in
plastic or glass bottles that
can be recycled. Buy your milk from a
milk delivery service. Delivery jobs are
now under threat as more people
pick up cartons or plastic bottles in
the shops.
You can send rinsed and flattened
Tetra Pak cartons, at your own
expense to Smith Anderson and Co,
Fettykil Mills, Nr Glenrothes, Fife,
KY6 3AQ (01592 746000).
Address labels can be downloaded
from www.drinkscartons.com/docs/
recycling_uk.htm
Glass bottles
and jars
fact
▼
To reuse is better than to
recycle. A milk bottle is
the perfect example of practical,
eco-friendly packaging, reusable up
to 30 times. The average glass bottle
contains over 25% recycled glass.
Green glass bottles manufactured
in this country contain at least 60%
and sometimes as much as 90%
recycled glass. Clear glass is easier
to recycle.
act
▼
Buy
your
milk from a milk
delivery service if
available. Recycle
all your glass
bottles and
jars in your
black box or
at your local
recycling centre.

Refillable and
rechargeable
Choose to buy refillable and
rechargeable products instead of
disposable. You will immediately
make a difference to the amount
of waste you generate. The types
of product that can be refilled are
washing powder, fabric conditioner
and printer cartridges. Refilled
alternatives are often cheaper.
Check with local shops if they
supply any refillable products.
Consider using
rechargeable
batteries, and avoid
disposable products
such as nappies,
razors, plastic cutlery,
plates, cameras,
and tissues.
If refillable containers are not an
option, try to purchase goods in
large containers rather than multipacks
containing single portions
like breakfast cereals and drinks.
How to deal
with food waste
In 2006 Bristol City
Council will start
collecting kitchen
waste, cardboard
and garden waste
from the kerbside
for composting. However, if you want
to make your own compost to use in
your garden you can compost all of
your uncooked vegetable and fruit
waste, eggshells, tea bags and some
cardboard. Bristol City Council sell
three sizes of compost bins for £14
which can be picked up or delivered
to your door (£3 delivery fee).
Compost bins can be ordered on line
at: www.bristol-city.gov.uk/recycling
or phone 0117 903 1221 to request a
compost bin order form.
If you want to put all of your kitchen
waste in one place regardless of
whether it’s cooked or not and
regardless of whether its meat, fish
or bread your best bet is a Green
Cone. This is a perfectly safe system
whereby you partially bury the cone
in your garden and all kitchen waste,
including chicken bones and fish
skins, can go in. You can even put cat
and dog poo into the Green Cone.
This rots down in a sealed container
and is released back into the soil
beneath the ground’s surface. Visit
www.greencone.com or phone 0800
731 2572 for more information.
Helpful
hints
Remember to take your recyclables
when you go to the supermarket.
Most supermarkets have recycling
banks in the car parks. Many
supermarkets also have recycling
points for used plastic bags.
When choosing items remember
what recycling facilities exist near
you. Glass can be recycled in the
black box or taken to a local
recycling centre. For example try to
buy your ketchup in a glass bottle
rather than a plastic one.
If you make too much
food, you can try to use the leftovers
in a separate recipe – use your
imagination, after all, that’s how
shepherds pie was invented!
If you follow all of the above advice,
the food waste in your wheeled bin
will reduce significantly. You
probably would have saved
yourself some money too, and
think how you could spend it!
Buy recycled
Lots of products on the market, such
as toilet rolls, kitchen towels, tissues,
writing paper, bin liners, pens, rulers
and plant pots are available made
from recycled materials. Many ideas
for home, work, school and the
garden can be found at:
■ www.recyclenow.com
■ www.recycledproducts.org.uk
■ www.greenchoices.org.uk
■ www.ecomall.com
■ www.greenshop.co.uk
■ www.cat.org.uk
Things to try at
least once……
■ Try on-line shopping – and reuse
any packaging.
■ Try a home delivery from a
local supplier.
■ Use a milk delivery service.
■ Buy recycled products.
■ Get a bag for life or reuse plastic
bags to carry your shopping.
■ Buy concentrated
items like squash.
■ Make up a
waste free
lunch
box.

Recycling symbols
There are a number of symbols, which commonly appear on
packaging products. Some of these indicate whether the item
is recyclable, whilst others show the recycled material content.
Metals
All drink and food cans made from
steel and aluminium can be recycled.
Look out for the following symbols.
Cardboard
Recyclable aluminium
or
Recyclable steel
All cardboard can be recycled.
The above symbol, (called the
Mobius loop), is most commonly
found on cardboard packaging and
shows that the item is recyclable. If
the centre of the loop contains a
number, this means that the item is
made from a certain percentage of
recycled materials.
Another symbol often
displayed on paper and
cardboard packaging is
the RESY recycling symbol. This
symbol guarantees that packaging
with this symbol is recyclable and will
be accepted by cardboard recyclers.
Glass
All glass containers are
recyclable, this symbol
reminds consumers to
recycle glass jars and bottles, at
your local recycling centre or in the
black box.
Plastics
There are a variety of plastic
containers. Types 1, 2 and 3 are
usually bottles and can be recycled
in plastic bottle banks in Bristol.
PET Polyethylene
terephthalate – Fizzy
drink bottles and ovenready
meal trays.
HDPE High-density
polyethylene – Bottles for
milk and washing-up
liquids.
PVC Polyvinyl chloride –
Food trays, cling film,
bottles for squash, mineral
water and shampoo.
LDPE Low density
polyethylene – Carrier
bags and bin liners.
PP Polypropylene –
Margarine tubs,
microwaveable meal trays.
PS Polystyrene – Yoghurt
pots, foam meat or fish
trays, hamburger boxes
and egg cartons, vending
cups, plastic cutlery,
protective packaging for
electronic goods and toys.
Other plastics
Any other plastics that do
not fall into any of the
above categories.
An example is melamine, which is
often used in plastic plates and cups.
This symbol, the German
‘Green Dot’, often
appears on packaging.
This does not have an
environmental significance. It means
that the manufacturer has paid a fee
towards the packaging recovery
system in Germany.
The European Eco-label
has been developed
by the European Union. It
encourages the
development of products
which keep the impact on
the environment to a minimum. It is
a voluntary scheme and the ‘flower’
symbol is awarded to products that
meet certain criteria. About 400
products – from washing machines to
footwear – currently carry the label.
Search for Eco-labelled products at
www.eco-label.com
For more information
on packaging
■ Industry Council for Packaging and
the Environment www.incpen.org
■ Waste Online
www.wasteonline.org.uk/
resources/InformationSheets/
Packaging.htm
Recycling
information
Recycling Team,
Waste Services,
Bristol City Council,
Brunel House,
St George’s Road,
Bristol, BS1 5UY.
Telephone: 0117 903 1221
Email: recycling@bristol-city.gov.uk
www.bristol-city.gov.uk/recycling