What goes in your bins
Green recycling bin
All recycling in your green bin should be clean, dry and loose (or placed in a clear bag).
What should go in your green bin
What should not go in your green bin
Take to the Household Waste Recycling Centre (tip) for recycling
- Plastic bottles; milk, pop, water, cleaning products, beauty products (with tops)
- Margarine tubs, butter tubs, soft cheese tubs, yoghurt pots, cream pots
- Plastic ready meal food trays - unless they are black
- Clear food trays
- Empty carrier bags, no other types of plastic bag
- Newspapers and magazines
- Junk mail, greeting cards, envelopes, wrapping paper
- Yellow Pages, telephone directories, paperback books
- Writing paper, printer paper
- Shredded paper
- Food cans (no pet food pouches)
- Drink cans
- Foil - no food or cooking residue
- Foil dishes
- Aerosol cans (no lighter fuel cans)
- Cardboard and corrugated boxes
- Cereal boxes
- Washing powder boxes
- Milk or fruit juice cartons, including Tetra Pak
- Plastic or cardboard egg boxes
- Glass bottles, all colours (no tops)
- Jars (no tops)
- Black bin liners
- Bagged waste
- Bottles still containing liquid
- Nappies and hygiene products
- Take away pizza boxes and fast food wrappings
- Food waste and dirty food containers
- Black plastic food trays
- Textiles - Clothes, shoes and bedding (You can take these to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre, charity shop or put them out for charity collections)
- Electrical goods (can be recycled if you take items to a Household Waste Recycling Centre)
- Polystyrene
- Food wrappers
- Shiny plastic wrappers eg; crisp packets, sweet wrappers, tea bag packets
- Tupperware
- Toys
- Bubble wrap
- Hardback books
- Pyrex or cooking dishes
- Crockery
- Window glass
- Picture glass
- Drinking glasses
- Mirrors
- Garden waste
- Any other items which are not included in the 'What should go in my green bin' list above.
- Clothes, shoes and bedding
- Electrical goods
- Wood / Medium-density fibreboard (MDF)
- Batteries
Recycle it right at Christmas
There are some items you may use more often during the Christmas and New Year period. Find out what to do with the most common items you may need to recycle or dispose of in the coming weeks.
Disposing of Christmas and seasonal items
| Item | Green recycling bin | Take to HWRC | Grey rubbish bin | Other useful advice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bagged general household waste | No | Yes | Yes | Take additional bagged general waste to a HWRC for free. |
| Batteries | No | Yes | No | Battery recycling points are usually found in supermarkets too. |
| Broken or unwanted decorations | No | Yes | Yes | - |
| Cardboard packaging | Yes | Yes | No | Flatten and fold down boxes to go in your green bin or take packaging to a HWRC. |
| Christmas cards | Yes - see advice | Yes | Yes | Remove all glittered and embellished parts and batteries before recycling. |
| Christmas lights | No | Yes | No | - |
| Christmas trees - artificial broken or unwanted trees | No | Yes | No | - |
| Christmas trees - real trees | No | Yes | No | Can also be chopped into small chunks and put in your brown garden waste bin for first collections in Spring 2025. Remove lights and decorations |
| Clothes, blankets, duvets, curtains, shoes, bags etc | No | Yes | No | Donate to charity if in good condition or take to a HWRC. |
| Electrical items and appliances | No | Yes | No | Mains or battery powered items must go to a HWRC for recycling or disposal. |
| Furniture and bulky items | No | Yes | No | Consider donating good quality items to local charities or use the Bulky Item collection service. |
| Hard plastic toys | No | Yes | Yes | If the toys have batteries or are mains powered they must be taken to a HWRC. |
| Metal sweet and biscuit tins, gift tins | No | Yes | No | - |
| Plastic chocolates and sweets tubs | No | Yes | Yes | There may be local charity schemes available. |
| Polystyrene, bubblewrap, foam sheet padding, packaging peanuts or beads | No | Yes | Yes | - |
| Sweet wrappers - foiled, shiny soft plastic | No | Yes | Yes | Soft plastics and films can be recycled at most supermarkets. |
| Wrapping paper - plain, uncoated paper | Yes | Yes | No | Do the scrunch test. If the paper stays scrunched it can be recycled. If it springs back then it can't be recycled. |
| Wrapping paper - glittered and embellished | No | Yes | Yes | Do the scrunch test. |
| Wrapping paper - plastic or foiled | No | Yes | Yes | Do the scrunch test. |
You can find more information in the 'What can I put in my bins?' pdf leaflet below, including the 'Recycling Top 20'.
Download list
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What Can I Put In My BinDownload PDF (2.82 MB)
Still not sure if the item can go in your green recycling bin? Check the Recycle Now website.
Contaminated recycling bin: Yellow tags
If there are non-recyclable items in your green bin, we will put a yellow tag on the handles and we will not empty it. When the non-recyclable items have been removed, we will empty your bin on your next scheduled collection day.
Grey general waste bin
What you cannot reuse or recycle goes in the general waste collection. We do not collect any household waste that is not in your general waste bin. We do not offer more than one general waste bin. You can apply for a bigger bin if four or more people are living in your property.
Confidential or personal information
Make sure you dispose of confidential or personal information such as bills or bank statements appropriately. Your rubbish and recycling bins are not secure; be vigilant about identity theft.
Brown garden waste bin
Use your garden waste bin for:
- flowers and plants
- grass cuttings
- hedge clippings
- tree clippings
- leaves
Garden waste should be loose inside your brown bin. It should not include:
- pots, bags and containers
- kitchen and food waste
- cat litter and animal bedding
Other ways you can manage your garden waste
Get home composting advice and offers on compost bins on the Get Composting website. There are also tips on how to recycle garden waste on the Recycle Now website.
