Most gardeners will admit to hoarding far too many pots in the garden shed. Unfortunately, garden plastics, for example plant pots, seed trays, tools and furniture, cannot be recycled in your kerbside recycling bin. The reason is that they are often made of a different type of plastic to the plastic used for household bottles, tubs and trays.
So how can you dispose of unwanted plastic plant pots?
• Do ask the retailer you bought your plants from if they will recycle used plastic plant pots.
• You can take plastic plant pots to B&Q stores, as they operate their own recycling scheme. Do you know they have a big recycling container that accepts small electrical items, batteries, light bulbs and florescent tubes too?
• Do offer them for free on social media sites or offer them to your local allotment holders.
• A national plant pot take-back scheme has just been launched by the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA), which will enable its members to send trays and pots for recycling. The HTA (with 1,800 garden centre members across the UK) says will not only enable members to become more sustainable but will also save them money.
You can now take these to Burgess Hill tip, where they can be deposited separately for recycling. - This is currently a trial to ensure that the items can be collected separately and the council will look at the feasibility of rolling it out to other sites in the future.