What can go in Flexible Plastics Recycling?
Plastic supermarket bags
Please keep out
Why set up a Flexible Plastics Recycling collection with First Mile?
Flexible Plastic Recycling FAQs
Why is recycling plastic bags important?
Why is recycling plastic bags important?
Recycling responsibly and reusing your plastics has never been so important. Alongside the growing concern for our planet comes a greater need for companies to ensure they are doing everything possible to help.
It's never been more important to recycle plastic bags and all sorts of flexible plastics and First Mile's business waste services make the process easy.
How many flexible plastic bags could be recycled every year?
How many flexible plastic bags could be recycled every year?
Around 1 trillion plastic bags are used around the world every year, while the oil it takes to make just one of them could power a car for 11 metres.
With this in mind, is it time that retail, catering or commercial businesses start to recycle flexible plastic with a conscientious company?
What happens to business waste after you've collected it?
What happens to business waste after you've collected it?
First Mile is responsible for collecting and disposing of all your rubbish in a professional, secure, and environmentally-friendly manner in.
Your rubbish and recycling is taken to our award-winning 'sacktory' in North London, where it is first sorted and source separated to ensure as much waste as possible is recycled. Outside of London we also have a facilities in Birmingham, or work with trusted partners Nationwide.
Recycling is then sent on to our specially selected partners who are responsible for recycling specific materials. Any waste that cannot be recycled is sent to generate green energy - nothing is sent to landfill.
Why use First Mile?
Why use First Mile?
As one of the leading waste management companies in London, Birmingham and the UK, First Mile has already helped over 30,000 businesses to reduce their carbon impact with our range of recycling services - with over 200 new businesses signing up each week.
By choosing First Mile, you’ll benefit from a low cost, reliable service, a 24/7 helpdesk, and free monthly reporting. You can view our accreditations above and our certificates and insurances here.
What are cartons made of and are they recyclable?
What are cartons made of and are they recyclable?
The average carton is made up of at least three layered materials: 75% paperboard (from wood), 21% polyethylene (a type of plastic) and 4% aluminium (on long-life or aseptic packages only). It's this unique combination that makes carton packaging safe and efficient to store food and drinks, but it also means that recycling cartons require a very special process.
After collection, cartons are taken to a specialist facility where they're soaked into water to separate the paperboard fibres. These are then dried and recycled into new paper products. The recovered plastic and aluminium layers are separated and turned into garden furniture, industrial products and building materials.
The process of recycling cartons isn't the easiest, but it is possible. Still, worldwide, less than 20% of cartons packaging is recycled - we can and must do better. First Mile recycles cartons in the UK, reducing the carbon footprint necessary and ensuring that nothing ends up in a landfill.
First Mile makes plastic bag recycling easy
We’ve made the process of plastic bag recycling straightforward and easily accessible for all manner of companies. We collect your plastics bags in our commercial bins for recycling, sort the material and recycle flexible plastics as new bags that can be reused.
This limits the drain on raw materials needed to make new flexible plastics and stops recyclable plastic bags from ending up in landfill. First Mile makes plastic recycling easy.
