Where do Greetings cards with glitter or foil go?

Glitter is cut plastic film, usually PET, in pieces small enough to count as microplastic from the moment they leave the card. It cannot be screened out of pulp, so a glittered card contaminates the batch it lands in. Foil-blocked and flocked cards fail for the same reason. Plain cards are ordinary board and recycle without any trouble, as do the envelopes; some charities and shops run card collections in January. Battery-powered musical cards are a separate problem — the sound module contains a coin cell that must come out first. Some councils run a January card collection and some do not, so check locally.

How to prepare it

1. Tear the plain sections away from the glittered or foiled ones.
2. Cut the sound module out of a musical card and take the cell to a battery point.
3. Reuse plain card fronts as gift tags.

What not to do

• Never recycle a card with glitter on it — the glitter is microplastic and it stays in the pulp.
• Never bin a musical card with the cell still in it.

Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

Other things that go to general waste bin

• Used cooking oil Let it cool, seal it in a container, and put it in general waste — or take it to an oil bank.
• Polystyrene and foam packaging General waste almost everywhere. It is recyclable in principle and collected almost nowhere.
• Incandescent and halogen bulbs General waste, wrapped. They are not recyclable glass and not electrical waste either.
• Crisp packets and snack wrappers General waste, or a supermarket soft-plastics bin where one exists. Not the kerbside recycling.
• Broken glass Wrap it thickly and put it in general waste, unless it is a broken bottle or jar — those can go in the glass bin.
• Dried-out paint and empty tins Once the paint is solid, many councils take the tin in general waste or as scrap metal. Check yours, because this one genuinely varies.
• Cling film General waste. It is excluded even from soft plastic collections almost everywhere.
• Till receipts General waste. Thermal paper is coated, not printed, and it should not go in with paper or compost.
• Wet wipes and makeup wipes General waste. Never the toilet, whatever the packet says about flushability.
• Dog waste Bagged in general waste, or a dog waste bin. Not the food waste caddy, and not the compost heap.
• Nappies General waste, bagged. There is no kerbside recycling route for them anywhere in ordinary use.
• Cat litter General waste, bagged. Clay litter is not compostable, and cat faeces carry a parasite that keeps it out of the garden.
• Medicine blister packs General waste in most places, or a pharmacy collection scheme where one exists.
• Cigarette butts Put it out completely, then bin it. Filters are cellulose acetate plastic, and a live butt starts bin fires.