can i recycle tea bags that have been in contact with milk?

sherbie28

Hi,

I always put the milk in first in a cup of tea and my council have issued a brown bin for veg peelings etc and it states tea bags can be added but surely if they have been contaminated with milk can they still go in?

arkonite_babe

that's the way mine go in and I can't imagine that the council officers will be squeezing your used tea bags to check if there's any traces of milk in them. I wouldn't worry about it tbh

penrhyn

My daughter makes tea this way, drives me mad.
Should be done this way, bag in cup, pour on boiling water, bodge it about till the colour looks right, remove bag and then add the milk!

:rotfl:

tanith

sherbie28 wrote: »

Hi,

I always put the milk in first in a cup of tea and my council have issued a brown bin for veg peelings etc and it states tea bags can be added but surely if they have been contaminated with milk can they still go in?

I can't think of a reason why you would think milk would 'contaminate' anything? I put all leftover food in my food-recycle bin including leftover custard, the skin off the rice pudding YUK!!!, cereal, mouldy cheese, porage all of which contain differing amounts of milk.. It just rots down the same as any other food....

arkonite_babe

This actually will suit better on the greenfingers board, so I'll move it over

consumermonkey

There was a story a while back about the council in Cardiff banning tea-bags in composting for this very reason. I have a few work mates who live in various parts of Cardiff, and all deny ever having heard such a thing.

DangerousDave_2

milk has come into contact with my own tea bags and they always go in my compost bin. Never had any problem with them apart from the paper that holds them together rots a little slower than the tea. My neighbour had an issue with me composting everything I can do. She had rats in her garden and claimed that it was my bin that attracted them - the council pest control bloke checked round and told her it was her putting bread on the lawn for birds that was the most likely cause of them coming

dobbie82

LOL i thought this thread was gonna be a bit of moneysaving gone too far as in literally recycling and reusing the bag... doh.. i'll go hide in my corner.

as for rats, i declined my compost bin after a year of waiting as the estate that had the bins first (last yr) are now innundated with rats!

valk_scot

tanith wrote: »

I can't think of a reason why you would think milk would 'contaminate' anything? I put all leftover food in my food-recycle bin including leftover custard, the skin off the rice pudding YUK!!!, cereal, mouldy cheese, porage all of which contain differing amounts of milk.. It just rots down the same as any other food....

Recieved wisdom is that you only put plant waste into compost bins, otherwise what you're basically creating is a giant rat fast-food joint. A little milk residue won't hurt though.

frivolous_fay

penrhyn wrote: »

My daughter makes tea this way, drives me mad.
Should be done this way, bag in cup, pour on boiling water, bodge it about till the colour looks right, remove bag and then add the milk!

:rotfl:

How do you know if the colour is right if there's no milk in it? :rotfl:

How do you tell what colour it is in a black mug?

penrhyn

Forgot to say you must use a white bone china mug!:rotfl: