Aluminium foil is difficult for recyclers to process but should not be placed in the general landfill (red bin) waste unless contaminated.
In Canberra for example the recycling trucks sport a huge sign “No Foil for the Soil”. Aluminium takes 200 to 500 years to break down in the soil. Recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than making it from raw materials: one tonne of recycled aluminium saves over 6000 litres of oil and up to 10 cubic metres of landfill space.
An easy way to enable more effective recycling of clean foil is to roll flat pieces together into a ball shape. The ball of foil doesn’t need to be enormous; a golf ball size is fine. It’s amazing how few chocolate wrappers or other foil covers are needed to make one golf ball sized foil ball!
In Canberra for example the recycling trucks sport a huge sign “No Foil for the Soil”. Aluminium takes 200 to 500 years to break down in the soil. Recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than making it from raw materials: one tonne of recycled aluminium saves over 6000 litres of oil and up to 10 cubic metres of landfill space.
An easy way to enable more effective recycling of clean foil is to roll flat pieces together into a ball shape. The ball of foil doesn’t need to be enormous; a golf ball size is fine. It’s amazing how few chocolate wrappers or other foil covers are needed to make one golf ball sized foil ball!
Once again, less to go into our red landfill bin and less cost to us ratepayers.
WasteWise Action Group
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