We've become incredibly eco-conscious these days - and I'm a stickler for making sure all my rubbish is sorted into the right bins. While different councils have different rules when it comes to recycling and the number of bins per household, there is one commonality.
One item that regularly ends up in the cardboard bin might actually be ruining the entire load. It's not uncommon, especially on a Friday or Sunday night, to order in a takeaway pizza, and I can be very guilty of this working evening shifts. However, depending on how greasy the box is, it could "ruin a wagon load" worth of recycling.
Wigan Council reminded people of this earlier this week after a pizza box was thrown out, with some of the pizza still inside.
With advice to residents, the now viral post read: "We can't believe anyone would throw away this much pizza either! And it definitely doesn't belong in your blue bin...even a greasy pizza box can ruin a whole wagon load because it can't be recycled."
It added: "These photos were all taken by our crews in just one week, so please remember: Greasy pizza boxes- black bin. Leftover pizza- green bin. Paper and clean cardboard- blue bin."
Why are greasy pizza boxes bad?
According to eco-friendly packaging company, Takeaway Packaging, there are two reasons that the greasy cardboard ends up destroying entire loads of recycling.
The first is that cardboard isn't immediately recycled and is stored beforehand. The food and oil residue can start to attract insects and rodents as it starts to decompose.
The second reason is that cardboard, especially from branded pizza companies, has to be washed with soapy water and chemicals in order to remove coloured inks and glues before the cardboard fibres can be reused.
Not only is an additional amount of chemicals needed to remove the stubborn grease, but it can end up mixing with the water during the process. This means it's not only impossible to remove the paint from the initial pizza box, but potentially other cardboard products that have been contaminated with the grease in the meantime.
It's not just pizza boxes that fall foul of this, but other greasy food items, think the paper used for your fish and chips or the boxes for your kebab.
Other popular takeaway containers
Thankfully, you are able to recycle plastic containers that takeaway shops like your local Chinese or curry house might send. But like cardboard, you also need to make sure that these haven't been contaminated by food matter before recycling.
Thankfully, a trip around the dishwasher or a washout in the sink can easily decontaminate them.
As ever, the best way to see what you can or can't recycle and which bin to put things in is to check your local council's website.