Scan & Swap

Add a missing item

Our app carries a list of UK products and what they're wrapped in. It's a big list, but it isn't everything — own-brand and brand-new products are the usual gaps. If you scanned something and got nothing back, this is where you can fix it for the next person.

It takes about a minute, and you don't need to know what the plastic is called. The guide below works it out from the number inside the little recycling triangle.

The long number printed under the barcode. If you came here from the app it's already filled in.

The name on the front of the pack.

What's it wrapped in?

Pick the shape of the main part of the packaging — the bottle, the tub, the bag — and then, if you can find it, the number in the triangle.

Usually stamped on the bottom or the back, and easy to miss. Pick "can't find one" if there isn't one — plenty of packs don't have it.

What the numbers mean

Every one of these is a different plastic, and they don't all go in the same bin. This is the whole reason the app asks.

  • Recycling symbol 1
    PETFizzy drink and water bottles, some clear trays. Kerbside bin
  • Recycling symbol 2
    HDPEMilk bottles, shampoo, bleach, detergent. Kerbside bin
  • Recycling symbol 3
    PVCUncommon in food now — some blister packs and rigid wraps. General waste
  • Recycling symbol 4
    LDPECarrier bags, bread bags, the film over a tray, squeezy bottles. Supermarket film bank
  • Recycling symbol 5
    PPYoghurt pots, margarine tubs, ready-meal trays, bottle caps. Kerbside bin
  • Recycling symbol 6
    PSPolystyrene — foam trays, protective packing, some cups. General waste
  • Recycling symbol 7
    OtherAnything else, including compostable plastics and multi-layer packs. General waste

Councils do differ, so this is a steer rather than the last word — your own council's website has the list that actually applies where you live. Soft plastic is the one worth remembering: it is not collected from most homes yet, but most big supermarkets have a bag and film bank near the front doors.

A lid of a different plastic, a card sleeve round a plastic tray, that sort of thing.

Back to the site

What you send goes to us by email and is used for one thing: filling the gap in the app's product list, which then ships to everyone in the next update. We don't publish your email address, and there's no account and nothing to sign up to.