Recycling the reusable: well-worn food storage products can now be recycled thanks to TerraCycle programme

Re-usable plastic products have huge benefits over many single-use plastics, particularly in terms of their sustainability credentials, but also in terms of their performance and aesthetics. But even reusables have a limit. And due to the complexity of their design, plus the materials which tend to be used, they can present a recycling challenge.

Now, a free recycling programme for any brand of food storage containers and reusable plastic water bottles has launched in the UK, allowing households to recycle these hard-to-recycle items. 

Anyone can sign-up to the programme and be awarded points for each item they send in to be recycled. These points are redeemable as monetary donations to fund good causes including charities, community initiatives and schools. 

The recycling programme has been set up by TerraCycle in collaboration with Sistema - manufacturer of food storage containers and reusable bottles. It has been designed to give well-used food storage containers and reusable plastic water bottles a second life after use. 

These items are considered “hard-to-recycle” due to the high quality food grade BPA free materials they are made of. Whilst some councils collect and recycle some food storage containers, there are a number that don’t collect or recycle any. This means they are often destined for landfill or incineration. 

As well as collecting these items from home, there’s an option to create a public drop-off location where the wider community can drop the items at one central point to be sent in together for larger volumes to be recycled. This allows programme members to become recycling champions for their communities, collecting more and raising more money for their chosen good cause. 

Anyone can sign-up on the programme page on TerraCycle’s website to start collecting. It’s free to send the items to TerraCycle where they will be recycled into raw materials. 

TerraCycle recycles these items by shredding, washing and sorting the materials by type. The material is then dried, compounded and pelletized into hard-granulated plastic granules. These granules can then be incorporated into the production of different plastic products.

Julien Tremblin, General Manager for TerraCycle Europe said: “This is a first-of-its-kind recycling programme for the UK so we’d urge everyone to get involved and start collecting as much as possible, either from home or from the community. 

“It couldn’t be easier to collect and send us these items, and it’s a great way to help your home or community go greener.”