Aluminium and foil
How to recycle
Clean aluminium trays and foil are widely recycled.
- Rinse foil trays to remove any food residue
- Scrunch kitchen foil into a ball – the bigger the ball, the easier it is to recycle. If the foil is contaminated with grease or burnt-on bits of food, throw it in your rubbish bin.
You can usually recycle these aluminium items
- Drinks cans
- Foil containers, such as bun cases, takeaway containers and cake trays
- Barbecue and freezing trays
- Screw top lids from wine bottles (screw them back onto the bottle when you recycle it)
Are crisp packets recyclable?
You might be surprised that they aren’t! Crisp packets are actually made from metallised plastic film which can’t be recycled yet as it’s made from layers of plastic and metal which are very hard to separate for recycling. Putting them into your recycling is an easy mistake to make, but they should actually go in your rubbish bin.
Do the scrunch test to check whether your shiny wrapper is aluminium foil or plastic film: scrunch the wrapper in your hand – if it springs back open, it can’t be recycled.
Related items...
Click for more information about Aluminium trays
Aluminium trays
Click for more information about Foil trays
