So should you rinse out cans and bottles before putting them in the recycling? Waste management boss finally reveals the answer

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 13:53 EDT, 26 September 2026 | Updated: 14:26 EDT, 26 September 2026 For decades, Britain's guilt-ridden eco-zealots have scrubbed pots and jars until their knuckles ache, terrified a single smear of jam could contaminate an entire truckload of recycling. But according to the man tasked with handling nearly half of the nation's rubbish, all their hours spent hunched over the kitchen sink were for nothing. Richard Kirkman, the UK boss of waste giant Veolia, has revealed there is no need to wash out cans and jars before putting them in the recycling. He says whatever grime is left behind is simply blasted away in an industrial-grade washing machine. Speaking to The Times, Mr Kirkman said: 'If it's not washed, we wash it in an industrial machine later anyway. 'If it's washed when we collect it, OK, we use less water — but you've used the water at home. Don't leave half a jar of jam in there, but you don't need to scrub it out.' The answer to whether you should rinse household waste items before putting them in the recycling has finally been answered Richard Kirkman, the UK boss of Veolia, said there is no need to wash out cans and jars before putting them in the recyclingHe added that you only need to make sure your recycling waste is 'relatively clean' before throwing it out. And Chris Mills, of the environmental charity Wrap, agrees, saying Britons should 'definitely not spend all their waking hours religiously cleaning out every single tin and bottle'.Mr Kirkman said if your jam is still a bit sticky or gooey, for example, or there is still a bit of yogurt at the bottom of your plastic pot, that's OK. The one exception though? Throwing a half-full bottle of gone-off milk in the recycling bin. It comes after a shocking eight in ten Britons said they were confused over what they can recycle.More than one billion items are incorrectly sent to landfill or incineration every year, according to a new study from environmental charity Wrap.Experts have also warned about products which many Britons wrongly believe can be included in household or garden waste recycling bins.While almost nine in ten Britons recycle regularly, the research suggested that most make simple mistakes when it comes to what they can, or can't, recycle. Campaigners say many commonplace objects are wrongly being thrown out in the wrong bins when they could and should actually be recycled.In 2023, the Government promised an end to the complicated rules of household waste collection - with plans for 'seven bins' in each home scrapped and replaced with a scheme which saw households have three to four bins each.