Stricktly speaking, if you were to follow the law to the letter, then any container which may be empty but contains the smallest of residue is still classed as hazardous. However in reality many recycling companies will take empty plastic containers if they have had a simple rinse out with plenty of water. This is a common sense approach for basic cleaning substances however it could be challenged by a very very, very strict environment officer. You could not however tip more than a residue down the drain in the hope that this would be a cheap disposal option, enabling you to recycle the bottle.

quote=georgiec]Hi all we have some cleaning material that is classed as hazardous waste which when we have any left to dispose of we do so through the correct channels. My question is... One of our cleaning products is in a plastic trigger bottle. Once this is empty can the plastic bottle be recycled? or does it have to be classed as hazardous waste still? Thanks in advance for any help George Does it tell you on the bottle that is is hazardous and harmful to the environment, how do you use it, there is probably as much on the cloth as left in the bottle. I don't condone just tipping things down the sink, but quite often the amount left once diluted with water is negligible. I know your a company but how much do you think that notmal households poor down thier sinks collectively, bleach, toilet cleaners etc.

Do you have the current manufacturer Safety Data Sheet? This will tell you what they have determined according to the current regulations (certain suppliers are very unhappy with this system according to the web as their products are now on the shelf with the GHS07 exclamation mark). By example a certain brand of washing up liquid used domestically tends to end up in the local refuse stream as rinsed or containing residue packaging whereas the SDS for the same material in an industrial scenario is identified as hazardous waste. Running the ingredients from their web site through a WM3 check and it is classified as a hazardous due to irritants and aquatic toxicity.