Hard plastics

Hard plastics, such as broken garden furniture, broken toys and hard plastic storage containers, can be taken to your local household waste recycling centre (HWRC). Put unwanted plastic cutlery in your general waste bin.

Less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled globally, posing a huge threat to the environment by the vast amounts of it accumulating on the planet, particularly the oceans. 

This is a good time to remind you of the three Rs of waste management:

• Reduce – by focusing on the amount of waste you create in the first place.
• Reuse – do you really need to throw the item away? Could it be repaired? Could it be used for something else?
• Recycle – if something is recyclable, it could be made into something useful rather than just going to landfill. 

Unlike plastic bottles, which are mainly made of two types of plastic (HDPE and PET) plastic pots, tubs, trays, bags and film are made of a range of different types of plastic.

All plastics in theory can be recycled but it is not always technically or economically viable. In Greater Manchester, we only collect plastic bottles because there is a sustainable market for them, and we can guarantee they will be recycled.