Solving the recycling riddle: Everything you need to know about your bins

What is each bin for, where does it all our rubbish end up and can we do better? Helen O’Callaghan finds out

Des Crinion, consultant to Panda Irish Packaging Recycling with an iron and a side mirror from a car - just two of thousands of items that should not be, but were, included in household recycling bags collected by Panda Recycling. Pic: Moya Nolan

Bins can be bamboozling. Most of us have three — rubbish, recycling and compost — and you can sometimes find yourself pondering whether a tea bag goes in the compost, or a used pizza box in the recycling.

And it’s not just what each bin’s for. Other essential questions are: Where does it all end up? Are we doing it right? Could we do better? So here’s the low-down: