Why recycle plastic?

As well as giving you more room in your main bin, there's a whole host of ways in which small actions can have a big effect when it comes to plastic recycling.

• Just 25 plastic drinks bottles can make a fleece top.
• Recycling one liquid soap bottle every month for a year saves enough energy to bake yourself a birthday cake - and a Christmas cake.
• Recycling one bleach bottle saves enough energy to power a street light for 6½ hours
• Recycling one shower gel bottle saves enough energy to toast nearly three rounds of bread.
• Recycling one ice cream tub saves enough energy to watch Wallace & Gromit's 'A Grand Day Out' three times on Digital TV.

If everyone in the UK recycled one plastic milk bottle, enough energy could be saved to run a fridge in around 6,430 homes.

If everyone in the UK recycled one bathroom cleaner bottle, enough energy could be saved to vacuum around 82,460 homes.

If everyone in the UK recycled one washing up liquid bottle, enough energy would be saved to run a TV in around 22, 540 homes.

Recycled plastic bottles can transform into lots of new things such as children’s toys, t-shirts, fleeces, garden furniture and other plastic bottles.

There’s lots of plastic packaging that can be recycled from around the home, they include:

• Kitchen – drinks bottles, sauce bottles, washing up liquid bottles, kitchen cleaner bottles, laundry detergent, margarine/butter tubs, ice cream tubs, yoghurt pots, soup pots, meat trays, fruit punnets.
• Bathroom – liquid soap bottles, mouth wash bottles, shower gel bottles, shampoo and conditioner bottles, bleach bottles, bathroom cleaner bottles.
• Bedroom – moisturiser pots and tubs, body lotion bottles, talcum powder bottles.