Recycle Week: Reading joins the 2025 ‘Rescue Me! Recycle’ campaign
- Residents reminded of key items still being thrown away that should be recycled in kerbside collections
- Those items include shampoo bottles, toilet roll tubes, yoghurt pots and aerosol cans
- Glass perfume and aftershave bottles should be recycled at bottle banks
Residents are being reminded that items which could be recycled are still being thrown away in Reading.
Recycle Week – which began on Monday (22 September) and is now in its 22nd year – is the nation’s biggest annual celebration of recycling. This year’s ‘Rescue Me! Recycle’ campaign shines a spotlight on missed capture items that too often end up in the rubbish but can and should be recycled.
The Council is listing a number of items which are most commonly thrown away when they could be recycled. They are:
- Shampoo bottles
- Foil
- Trigger sprays
- Aerosols
- Yoghurt pots
- Toilet roll tubes
All of these items can be recycled from home by putting them in your mixed recycling box or red bin, collected from your kerbside every other week.
The Council is also keen to remind residents that glass aftershave and perfume bottles also shouldn’t be thrown away, and that they can be recycled at one of Reading's 40+ bottle banks, just as you would do with wine and beer bottles and glass jars.
Other items which instead of being thrown away can be recycled by taking them to the re3 centre in Island Road include textiles, coffee pods and light bulbs. You can download the Scrapp app from your phone’s app store and enter your address, to then be able to search individual items to see if they can be recycled from home or need to be taken to the re3 centre.
Karen Rowland, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services at Reading Borough Council, said:
“To mark national Recycling Week we are listing the most common items that could and should be recycled. We know that too many plastic shampoo and trigger spray bottles, yoghurt pots, aerosol cans and toilet roll tubes are still ending up in the bin when they can be put just as easily in your mixed recycling. Our ask of residents is to please put them in the right place and recycle more of these items.
We’re making good progress in recycling in Reading, which now stands at more than 50%, but by rescuing those missed items, we can improve on that figure significantly”.
Catherine David, CEO of WRAP said:
“Recycle Week continues to be a powerful moment to inspire action across the UK, and this year’s ‘Rescue Me! Recycle’ campaign is no exception. By highlighting everyday items like shampoo bottles and foil — things we often overlook — we’re helping people see the real impact of small changes. Thanks to innovation and collaboration, more of these items can now be recycled than ever before.
“Together with local authorities and communities, we’re making it easier to do the right thing and keep valuable materials in use. Let’s rescue these items from the rubbish and give them a second life.”
To find out more about Recycle Week, visit: www.recyclenow.com/RecycleWeek