SOFT plastics can now been taken to your local Southern Co-op for recycling.

Items such as cling film, biscuit wrappers and carrier bags, can be recycled in four stores on the Isle of Wight.

The independent, regional co-operative hopes its expansion of soft plastics recycling bins to more than 80 per cent of all of its stores will enable more customers to safely recycle materials that can't be recycled at home.

Simon Eastwood, chief operating officer for retail at Southern Co-op, said: "We started to trial these towards the end of last year and they have been really well received by both customers and colleagues.

"We would ask recyclers to double check if their plastics can be recycled before putting it in the bin. One way to do this is the scrunch test. It also needs to have had a quick clean but it doesn't need to have been bought in store to be recycled with us."

All Co-op branded food packaging is now easy to recycle through a combination of kerbside collections and soft plastic recycling in store.

Once collected, the recyclable material is sent to a company called Jayplas which will turn it into post-consumer plastic granules. These are then made into secondary products such as bin liners, buckets, and construction industry materials.

Stores with soft plastic recycling bins include The Co-operative Food in Carisbrooke's High Street, Cowes's Mill Hill Road, Ryde's West Street and Shanklin's Regent Street.

Bread bags, produce bags, ordinary carrier bags, wrappers around kitchen towel and toilet roll, bags that nappies come in, bags from cotton wool, cereal box liners, bags from frozen foods, bags from ice cubes, lids on yogurts, cream and desserts, lids from packs of meat and ready meals, lidding film from cheese packs, wrapping around chicken, fruit and veg flow wrap, chocolate wrappers, wrappers from croissants, pancakes and crumpet etc, biscuit wrappers, wrappers from cakes and Yorkshire puddings, flower wrappers, bags from dried fruit, sugar, pulses, rice and pasta, protective wrappers from gift wrap, bags from gift tags, pastry packaging, bags from household textiles and similar such as all-purpose cloths, dusters, dishcloths, rubber gloves and scourers, wrappers from pet food, wrappers from pies, pasties and sausage rolls, bagged sweets, pizza wrappers, bags from porridge and muesli pouches, and packaging from baby wipes and similar.

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