How can I maximise my recycling?

The average British recycling rate is just 18% of the collective bin – a long way off the 50% required by 2020. Expect local authorities to turn up the heat. RFID chips have already been fitted to wheelie bins in 68 local authorities. While residents in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, can face penalty fines of £100 for any non-horticulturally related items discovered in their garden-waste bins. Most recycling is now "co-mingled" – recyclables are mixed in a box or bag. They are taken to a MRF (pronounced "murf" – a materials recycling facility) for sorting and grading, to the chagrin of the Campaign for Real Recycling (realrecycling.org.uk), which wants single collections. By all means rinse out cans, but don't peel labels off or remove plastic windows from envelopes, as these will be melted off in the MRFs. Precycle: choose the product that comes in the least packaging, or bring your own bag. Also, think compost. Up to 35% of the bin is made of kitchen/organic waste. As generic recycling has modest aims – glass goes to road aggregate and old clothes are sold on as cheap clothes to Sub-Saharan Africa – divert any material you can. Traid.org.uk recycles clothes but also customises and reworks them for resale via its shops. Or join the British Zero Waste Alliance (zwallianceuk.org). No waste, no bin, no recycling.