Recycle
In a truly circular economy, recycling is low on the list. We only go there after we've explored reuse, repair, repurpose, or refill.
Recycling involves breaking down waste into its basic materials - like plastic, metal, or glass - and turning them into something new. It usually follows this process:
- Collection (curbside or drop-off)
- Sorting (by material type and quality)
- Processing (cleaning, shredding, melting, etc.)
- Remanufacturing (into new products or materials)
It’s an important part of the resource hierarchy. but one with greater environmental impact. This process:
- uses energy and resources
- often loses the embedded energy and value of the original product
- faces issues like contamination and complex transport
- sometimes pushes the environmental burden onto communities elsewhere
Beyond the yellow bin
REcheck includes recycling solutions that aren’t covered by your council recycling service. We help you find:
- Product stewardship programs (like Mobile Muster or B-cycle)
- Micro-recyclers (like Transmutation or Resourceful Living)
- Aggregator programs (like RecycleSmart orBanish)
You might discover a better option — one that saves energy, keeps the value in your stuff, and does the planet a bigger favour.
For accurate info about what your local bin system can and can’t take, head to RecycleMate.
This is as low as REcheck goes on the resource hierachy. Landfill is a dirty word, and only used if there really isn't another option.