Over Easter, households often find themselves surrounded by colourful foil from chocolate eggs and other festive treats. While aluminium foil is 100% recyclable, the small size of these wrappers means they can easily slip through recycling machinery and miss their chance to be recovered.
Instead of placing tiny foil pieces loose in the recycling bin, collect them and scrunch them firmly into one larger ball. A ball at least the size of a tennis ball is much easier for recycling equipment to detect and sort correctly. This small action helps ensure that valuable aluminium stays in circulation rather than ending up in landfill.
Foil wrappers can also be placed inside an empty aluminium drink can. Once full, the top of the can can be gently squeezed so the wrappers don’t fall out, and the whole can then be placed in the recycling bin. This method keeps all the small pieces together and guarantees they will be recycled with other aluminium items.
Learn more about what materials can be placed in your recycling bin.