Household collections

Extra items that cannot fit in the blue-lidded bin may be presented beside the bin in a suitable container, such as a plastic storage box. To prevent paper and cardboard getting wet, these items should be inside the bin, but plastic and tin items and cartons can be presented next to the bin. You should remove all non-cardboard and paper packaging such as bubble wrap or polystyrene. You should recycle shredded paper at a Household Recycling Centre.

Paper and cardboard

• paper (any colour)
• cardboard (any colour) such as cereal boxes, greeting cards (without glitter), food packaging and toilet rolls.
• corrugated cardboard
• directories and catalogues
• envelopes (no need to remove windows)
• kitchen and toilet roll tubes
• newspapers and magazines
• shoe boxes
• wrapping paper, non foil-lined and without glitter. You should check by scrunching it into a ball, if it does not bounce back it can be recycled. See  for more information.

We use screens to sort the card and paper from other materials and wet fibre tends to fall apart during this process. Wet cardboard and paper also sticks to other items and is more difficult to separate and can cause blockages.

Plastics

No black plastics are accepted. You should rinse and squash bottles, and keep the lids on.

• bleach bottles
• drinks bottles such as milk, juice, squash
• cooking oil bottles
• hand wash and washing up liquid bottles
• laundry liquid and fabric conditioner bottles
• plastic food trays - meat, fruit and vegetable trays
• shampoo and conditioner bottles
• upright 'pump' type toothpaste tubes
• yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, ice cream tubs

Metals

Rinse out food cans, trays and foils. You should scrunch all foil together before disposing.  You should make sure aerosols are completely empty before disposing; they may explode when compacted.

• foil and trays
• food tins
• drinks cans
• empty aerosols. Make sure aerosols are completely empty and depressurized
• metal biscuit tins

Cartons

You should rinse and squash all cartons before disposal.

• custard cartons
• drink cartons
• food cartons, e.g. passata, soup
• milk cartons

• black plastics
• small electrical items and batteries, see batteries, see the Battery and small electricals collections page for guidance
• cardboard contaminated with food such as takeaway pizza boxes
• film lids from pots, tubs and trays
• cling film and plastic bags such as carrier bags, sandwich bags, freezer bags and bin liners
• crisps or sweet packets
• pet food pouches
• disposable drinks cups and plastic straws and compostable plastics including cups, trays, films, and cartons
• plastic packaging and polystyrene and plastic tubes such as toothpaste and hand cream tubes
• plant pots. You can take these a Household Recycling Centre or return them to garden centres for reuse
• rigid plastic such as toys and garden furniture
• boxes with plastic windows. You should remove the window first
• foil-lined cardboard tubes such as Pringles tubes
• dirty cans or tins. You should rinse all recyclables first
• clinical and medical products. See Clinical, hazardous and commercial waste for more information
• scrap metal
• books and textiles. You can recycle these at a Household Recycling Centre
• shredded paper. You can dispose of shredded paper in the household waste bin or recycle it at a Household Recycling Centre. Alternatively, you can compost this. See Home composting for more information
• coffee pods. You can recycle these at your local Household Recycling Centre
• foil lined wrapping paper or wrapping paper containing glitter, plastic bags and polystyrene packaging. To see what you can recycle this Christmas see 

Items that cannot be disposed of in the blue-lidded recycling bin can be taken to a Household Recycling Centre. See What you can bring to a Household Recycling Centre for more details.

• glass jars
• glass bottles

You should keep bottle tops on glass bottles and jars before disposing.

If the black recycling box is full, you can put any extra glass into a separate, open carrier bag (not a black bag) and place it next to the black box.

• flat glass
• Pyrex or any ovenproof cookware
• light bulbs