About Recyclables
Pizza Box
When is it recycled?
Ask the shop to put a wax paper underneath the pizza, that way you can enjoy your pizza, throw your clean pizza box in the recycling bin and only throw the wax paper away.
Ask the shop to cut up your pizza and package it in your container.
Compost the soiled parts that will not be accepted for recycling.​
When is it recycled?
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Ask the shop to put a wax paper underneath the pizza, that way you can enjoy your pizza, throw your clean pizza box in the recycling bin and only throw the wax paper away.
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Ask the shop to cut up your pizza and package it in your container.
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Compost the soiled parts that will not be accepted for recycling.​
When is it recycled?
Ask the shop to put a wax paper underneath the pizza, that way you can enjoy your pizza,
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Throw your clean pizza box in the recycling bin and only throw the wax paper away.
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Ask the shop to cut up your pizza and package it in your container
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Compost the soiled parts that will not be accepted for recycling.​
When the box is soiled.​Grease is hydrophobic, i.e. it does not mix with water. When the grease content reaches 20% of the box's mass, the grease will start to interfere with the fibre bondings and greatly reduce the paper strength of the end product.
Thermal Slip Paper
When is it recycled?
Thermal paper, also known as till slips, is a paper that has a coating that reacts to heat to produce colour. Thermal paper is regarded as common mix, which means it is accepted for recycling.
Common mix is mixed-paper that includes: cereal boxes, thermal paper, paper carrier bags, etc.
How it is recycled
Keep the till slips in a paper-only bag to keep your paper dry.
Drop the bag into your recycling bag when it is full.
Thermal paper does not use ink for its printing, you might have realized how the old receipts tend to lose their color with time. Thermal paper rather has a coating that makes it to react to heat to produce the color that you see.
Light Bulbs
Two companies in South Africa recycle light bulbs, eWaste Africa and Reclite.
How to recycle
Simply drop them off at your nearest PicknPay in the white bins situated near the door. Woolworths also has collection points for light bulbs.Do not throw them in your recycling bin.
In South Africa, lightning waste (like fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lights and light-emitting diodes) are classified as hazardous waste and it will not be accepted at the landfill since all hazardous waste are prohibited.
Cereal Boxes
Cereal boxes are made of paperboard, which is a different grade of paper than corrugated cardboard. The paperboard boxes have a thin layer of plastic and are usually printed heavily on the visible side and have a white or grey side on the back. These boxes are commonly used to package cereals, tea, tissues, biscuits, and frozen foods.
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Cereal boxes are different from corrugated cardboard. Paperboard is weaker than cardboard because it has weaker paper fibers, which decreases its value. When it is recycled, it is sorted as common-mix.
If any bale mixes two out of these three grades of paper (newspaper, office waste and paperboard), it is defined as common-mix.
How to recycle?
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Keep your boxes flat.
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Ensure that is not oily (takeaway boxes) and it is
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not soaking wet (frozen food boxes).
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Flatten the boxes when empty.
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Throw it in your recycling bag.
Paperboard Cups
(Cold drinks)
Paper/ poly cups are primarily made from paper fibre with a thin layer of polyethylene (PE) plastic to give the cups their waterproof characteristics so that they can comfortably hold your cold drink or coffee.
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These cups are recycled by Mpact at the Springs Paper Mill in Johannesburg. They go through a hydra pulping method where the PE plastic is separated from the paper fiber and the two are then recycled separately.
How to recycle?
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Flatten it, it should be easy since it is paper.
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Toss it in your recycling bag.​
Paper, in general, can be recycled up to 7 times.
Tetrapak (Milk & Juice)
​Tetrapaks are made from paperboard that is glued to plastic and foil layers to give it its water-resistance qualities.
How to recycle?
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Empty the contents
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Flatten the container
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Toss it in the recycling bag
What is it recycled into?
A wide range of paper and cardboard products are made from paper fibre.
Mpact Recycling opened a plant at the Springs Paper Mill in Johannesburg that can recycle tetrapaks. The plant can recycle 24 000 tonnes of used liquid packaging cartons per year, although the plant is not yet running at full capacity. At full capacity, the plant can save 65 240m3 of landfill space per year, which equates to saving approximately 11 400 tonnes of carbon emissions.
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White Paper
Paper is a thin sheet of material that is produced mechanically or chemically by processing fibres that are derived mostly from wood.
How to recycle?
Separate your paper to ensure that the paper is kept dry.
Make a paper-only bag to keep your paper.
Drop this bag into your big recycling bag.
Why recycled paper?
In 2014, South Africa recovered 64% of its paper for recycling. In perspective, this is 1.1 million tons, which is enough to fill more than 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Only 5% of households conscientiously recycle their paper, this means that there are still a lot of economic opportunities available to recycle paper and more trees can still be saved.
Saves landfill space: Recycling just a tons of paper removes the need for three cubic meters of landfill space.
24 trees are needed to produce a ton of writing paper.
What is it recycled into?
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Cereal boxes
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Pizza boxes
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Cardboard products
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Egg trays
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Toilet paper
Pens & Highlighters
The plastic used to make the pens and highlighters is usually polystyrene and polypropylene. So, they are recyclable. Yet, this is not the case for all of the pens and highlighters; others do not specify what type of plastic they are made of.
How to recycle?
Remove the ink barrels and only recycle the exterior barrel.
When is it recycled?
If the exterior barrel and cap are still clean and not stained with ink, then you can separate them from the ink barrel and throw them into your recycling bag, while discarding the ink barrel in the non-recyclable bin.
When is not recycled?
If the pen's exterior barrel and cap are stained with ink, it is not recyclable.
Avoid the brands that have no information regarding the types of plastic used in making the pen, they might be made from a combination of plastics and contain chemicals that will result in quality problems for the other recyclables.
What now?
The way to find out is by searching for your specific pen and the type of plastic that it is made from (e.g. polypropylene BIC cristal pen, Stabilo polypropylene highlighter) to find out if it is recyclable or not.
Did you know?
Pilot’s Begreen pens contain a minimum of 70% recycled plastic.
Beverage Cans
How to recycle?
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Flatten the empty cans.
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Toss them into your recycling bag.
Why Recycle cans?
Aluminium cans are 100% recyclable and they can be recycled again and again without losing its quality.
With every ton of aluminium can that is recycled, 14.000 kWh of energy is saved, 6,295 litres of oil are saved, and 14.53 cubic metres of landfill space is recycled. There is no excuse for you not to recycle your cans.
The aluminium can have an estimated 68 % total recycled content, the highest of any beverage package material.
According to Collect-a-Can, after 23 years of its establishment, South Africa has increased the rate of collected cans from 18 to 72%.
What is it recycled into?
New cans.
Food Cans
Food cans are containers that are made of thin metal to store and distribute food and other contents
How to recycle?
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​Remove the labelling.
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Rinse the food residue off the can using grey-water.
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​Do not throw the lids away but also throw them into the recycling bag.
What is it recycled into?
New cans.
Dairy & Margarine Tubs
Diary and margarine tubs are made from polypropylene PP.
How to recycle?
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​Rinse your tubs, if they are dirty.
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​Put them in your recycling bag when they are clean and dry.
What is it recycled into?
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Buckets
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Plastics chairs
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Hangers
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wine
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Storage containers
Aerosol Cans
According to RecycleNow, around 60% of aerosols are made from steel while the remaining 40% are made from aluminium. The plastic head of the can is not recycled.
How to recycle?
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Ensure that the aerosol can is empty.
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Do not flatten, crush, or pierce aerosol cans.
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Detach any easily removable pieces before throwing it in your recycling bag.
What is it recycled into?
New items that are made of steel.
Aluminum Foil
According to Wispeco, clean foil and aluminium trays are recyclable.
What about plastic foil?
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Clean the foil by removing any food particles then scrunch the foil so that it does not take up much volume. It is also easier to recycle that way.
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Flatten it when it is dry.
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Put it in your recycling bag.
How to recycle?
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Clean the foil by removing any food particles then scrunch the foil so that it does not take up much volume. It is also easier to recycle that way.
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Flatten it when it is dry.
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Put it in your recycling bag.
What is it recycled into?
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Foil trays
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Foil sheets
Glass Bottles & Jars
All glass bottles are made from materials such as sand, soda ash and recycled glass.
Why should you recycle glass?
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Recycling a bottle/jar would save enough energy to power a fluorescent light bulb for seven hours straight!
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The Glass Recycling Company states that for every ton of waste used to manufacture new glass, 1.2 tons of natural resources are saved in the process.
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By taking the transportation and processing of the glass into account, for every ton of glass made out of recycled glass, 670kg of CO2 emissions are saved.
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You can get a return fee when you return certain bottles.
How to recycle?
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Rinse your glasses with grey-water.
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Put it in your recycling bag when it is dry.
What is it recycled into?
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Your glass is recycled into new glass products.