Go to the Reduce section to find of ways that you can reduce your waste. More information is provided at www.sort-it.org.uk.

Go to the Reuse section to find of ways that you can reuse your waste. More information is provided at www.sort-it.org.uk.

Reducing, reusing and recycling your waste benefits the environment in a number of ways. Firstly, it saves energy. For example, making an aluminium can from recycled materials uses 20 times less energy than making it from its raw materials.

Another benefit of reducing, reusing and recycling is that it saves the earth's natural resources. For example, if aluminium cans are not used to make new ones, non-renewable bauxite must be mined to manufacture new aluminium cans.

Reducing, reusing and recycling waste also reduces the risk of climate change. For example, you can reduce food and garden waste by composting it to make a soil conditioner that helps your flowers and plants to grow. If food and garden waste is not composted, it usually breaks down without enough air, which produces greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Reducing, reusing and recycling waste also reduces the need for landfill. Much of Scotland's waste is currently sent to landfill. Although there may always be a need for landfill, this is not a sustainable method of managing our waste in the long term, as there is a limit to the amount of space available in Scotland for landfill.

What you can recycle depends very much on where you recycle. If you recycle in school, look out for posters above your Recycling Points that tell you what you can recycle. If you still aren't sure, check with your teacher, or phone your local council recycling helpline.

If you recycle at home, the types of waste you can recycle and the type of recycling bin, box or bag you have will depend on where you live. You should have received further information from your local council about what you can recycle at home. If you aren't sure what you can put in your recycling bin, bag or box, or no longer have this information, visit www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk and select your area. Information about your recycling schemes at home will be provided.

If you recycle at Recycling Centres and Points, there should be signs telling you what you can put in which bin. To find out what materials can be recycled at your local Recycling Centres and Points, visit www.sort-it.org.uk

If you recycle everywhere you can, you should be able to recycle at least 50% of all your waste.

What can't be recycled depends very much on where you recycle. Some parts of Scotland have less facilities than others, and are therefore unable to recycle as many different types of waste.

You can only recycle what your school or home recycling schemes, or your Recycling Centres and Points accept.

In general*, you can't recycle materials that still have any food on them, plastic other than plastic bottles, or polystyrene. Also, you can't recycle broken glass from your home or school recycling schemes.

*unless otherwise stated on campaign materials, such as bin stickers, leaflets, posters or signs.

When you put your waste that can be recycled into the correct recycling bin, it begins its recycling journey. Different materials go on different journeys depending on where you live. Look at the recycling journeys in the Recycle section to see what is most likely to happen to your waste when you recycle.

The Waste Hierarchy explains that the third best way to deal with your waste is to Recycle. Recycling waste means using waste to make new products. These products can be the same as the original, or completely different. For example, your paper can be recycled into new paper. Old car tyres can also be recycled into new pencil cases. For more information on how to recycle your waste, look at the Recycle section or visit www.sort-it.org.uk .

The Waste Hierarchy explains that the best way to deal with your waste is to Reduce. Reducing waste means not producing as much waste in the first place. You can try writing on both sides of your paper to reduce the amount of paper waste you produce. For more ways to reduce your waste, look at the Reduce section or visit www.sort-it.org.uk .

The Waste Hierarchy explains that the second best way to deal with your waste is to Reuse. Reusing waste means using an item again, without making it into a new product first. You can reuse an item for the same purpose, or for a different purpose. For example, you can reuse a bottle of water by refilling it with more water to drink, or by filling it with something else, like paint for an art project. For more ways to reuse, look at the Reuse section or visit www.sort-it.org.uk.

The Waste Hierarchy shows the ways that we can deal with our waste. These ways are displayed in order, starting with the best way to deal with waste at the top and running down to the least sustainable way, or the way that benefits the environment least, at the bottom. Reduce is first, then Reuse, the Recycle and then Disposal.

Find details of local and national places that sell a range of recycled products in the Waste Aware Products section.

Go to the Recycle section to find out more about recycling.

Information about recycling at home and local recycling targets is available if you select your area on www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk.

Contact your local council's recycling helpline to find out more about recycling at school.

Visit www.sort-it.org.uk to find information such as, where your nearest Recycling Centres and Points are.

The More Help section links to a range of other useful websites for recycling information.

If your school has recycling bins, check what waste you can recycle in them and you can start recycling at school.

If you have recycling bins at home, check what you can recycling in them and you can start recycling at home.

Recycling Centres and Points are other places that you can recycle. Recycling Points are small collections of recycling containers, often found in supermarket car parks. Recycling Centres are larger sites and tend to have several Points where you can recycle a wide range of materials. Find out where your nearest Recycling Centres and Points are, by visiting www.sort-it.org.uk