The best recycling ideas around the world

Here in the UK, we are getting better at adopting the REDUCE – REUSE – RECYCLE mantra but we are still quite a long way off being as green as we could be. When we have a clear out, we tend to send it all off to the charity shop, recycling centres or even try and get a few quid for it on social media selling sites. But we haven’t come up with some of the best recycling ideas yet…or have we?

Media headlines and news reports often focus on the negatives, but there are some fantastic things being done all around the world to make recycling a way of life and many communities, business owners and governments are coming up with the best recycling ideas to increase recycling and reduce waste. We’d like to share a few with you below:

Some of the best recycling ideas we’ve found

Argentina – Recycled street furniture. A recycling company working with a designer are now turning recyclable rubbish into street furniture demonstrating that every day rubbish like paper, tin, glass, nylon, polystyrene and aluminium, can be reused and turned into other items.

Barcelona – Cooking oil recycling. ‘OliPots’ are given to residents by the local authority to keep their used cooking oil in to prevent it from contaminating waterways and clogging up sewers. These amazing pots filter the oil and food particles and the oil is collected then turned into useful products like biofuel.

San Francisco – Composting. San Francisco has always been ahead of the game in reducing waste. More than 72% of waste is recycled and kept out of landfill. A decade ago, they brought in mandatory composting – a new law which was the first of its kind in America. There are green composting bins located all over the city where people can put all their organic waste. Sticking with the States for a moment, North Carolina residents have created a ‘reverse vending machine’ to return empty plastic bottles in!