Can I Recycle My Water Filters

With more and more people turning to filtered water away from bottled water, inevitably the next question will be, can I recycle my water filter?!

If you are still a confirmed bottle water drinker, this nifty calculator on the BRITA website, may persuade you that a filter is a better option if you really cannot stand it straight from the tap! If you drink a litre of bottled water daily BRITA MAXTRA+ cartridges help you reduce CO2 emissions by 67.3 kg each year!

https://www.brita.co.uk/Calculate by how much you can reduce waste and CO2!

The great news for BRITA water filter users is that they can indeed very easily recycle their filter cartridges. They have a well set up recycling scheme which they started in 1992, with plenty of collection points.

They seem to be in most Sainsbury’s, Robert Dyas and Argos which is presumably where you buy your supply of water filters anyway. To find your nearest one, simply type in your postcode. They say they recycle or reuse all elements of their filters which is good to know – so make sure you don’t throw them in the bin!

https://www.brita.co.uk/recycling

Tesco’s also offer water filter recycling at their In-Store Recycling Stations, and it doesn’t appear to be brand specific. I am struggling to check that one out through Tesco’s website, so will wander down to the shop and have a look myself! But if you have a different brand, it may be worth doing the same.

Water filtration experts, Aqua Optima® have also partnered with TerraCycle® to offer a way to recycle their water filters as a commitment to the environment and in order to tackle single-use plastics. If that is the brand you use, then you simply need to locate a collection point on this map – it may even be somebody collecting them for charity.

As for other makes (are there any?), or ones that are attached to taps an fridges, there appears to still be work to be done. Some manufacturers may offer a recycling programme, so if you use a different brand either let us know and we will find out, or contact the manufacturer directly. We will watch this space closely as manufacturers are under pressure to find solutions, but so far BRITA appear to be the only ones taking action!

What is absolutely clear is that no local authorities accept them either at kerbside or at a recycling facility. It would be nice to think it was something that might become available at recycling centres soon, as it also encourages people to drink less bottled water! But we’ll watch this space because unless there’s something in it for someone, it’s not likely to happen!