Know your recycling: a guide to what items can and can’t be recycled in your household wheelie bins

To get started, here’s a list of items which are often mistakenly included in recycling. These items must be added to your general waste bin:

·     Laminated foil pouches such as baby food or coffee packaging
·     Drinking glasses and glass cookware such as Pyrex dishes
·     Dirty or stained paper
·     Greetings cards with glitter on them
·     Nail varnish bottles
·     Crisp packets

We’ll admit, we were definitely unsure about a couple of items on this list. With so many similar materials, it’s hard to understand that a wine glass or Pyrex dish cannot be recycled in our glass bins, but these are made from toughened glass which contains chemicals and therefore cannot be recycled together with glass bottles and jars as they have a higher melting point.

Even though some of these items cannot be recycled in your household bins, you may be able to recycle them locally at dedicated recycling points, such as at supermarkets. It’s always worth checking!

Now, onto the things we can recycle and some handy tips on what shouldn’t be included.

Here’s what you can put in your paper recycling bin:

• Newspapers
• Magazines, brochures and catalogues
• White paper (eg. letters)
• Phone books
• Leaflets and flyers
• Envelopes (including those that have a window)
• Shredded paper*
  • If your paper is collected as part of mixed recycling you need to check if this is accepted.

Helpful notes on paper recycling:

• Don’t forget to remove any free gifts from magazines or newspapers
• Ensure your paper is clean from any residual food before you put it in your recycling bin
• Brown paper should be recycled with card because it can discolour new paper 

Here’s what you can’t put in your paper recycling bin:

• Tissues or personal products such as used paper towels or make up removal pads
• Sanitary products such as wet wipes or nappies
• Any sticky papers such as Post-it notes or labels
• Sweet wrappers and crisp packets
• Any kind of wallpaper or gift wrap that is foil based

Here’s what you can put in your cardboard recycling bin:

Your cardboard recycling bin can be used for all cardboard around the home. This includes: 

• Cardboard cereal boxes and other food packaging such as egg cartons
• Corrugated cardboard from post / deliveries (just make sure you take off any packing tape and any plastic inserts)
• Greeting cards (no glitter)
• Brown paper 

Helpful notes on cardboard recycling:

• Cardboard must not contain any food, so if you’ve had a nice pizza and the cheese has melted all over the box, unfortunately this cannot be recycled.
• Glitter is made up of tiny specks of metal or plastic and is unfortunately too small to be screened out during the recycling process. Any recyclable items covered in glitter will be rejected at the recycling plant.

Here’s what you can’t put in your cardboard recycling bin:

• Coffee cups / take away drinks cartons (due to their plastic coating). *These can be recycled in dedicated areas.
• Sandwich packaging. On the go recycling in some public areas will allow these, but not your household recycling.

If you have Mixed Paper and Card co-mingled recycling, you can recycle anything from the above Paper list and anything from the above Cardboard list in your bin.

Don’t forget to check before recycling shredded paper.

Tip from WRAP: “if you scrunch paper and it doesn’t spring back, then it can be recycled.”

Here’s what you can recycle in your metal bin:

• Deodorant bottles – just be sure to remove those plastic caps and pop them in to your plastic bin
• Drinks cans and food tins – it’s helpful to put lids inside the cans
• Tin foil and aluminium trays such as take away packaging – be sure to scrunch your foil together into a ball
• Aluminium tubes such as tomato puree – once again, ensure the plastic cap is removed and put in with your plastic recycling
• Biscuit tins 

Helpful notes on metal recycling:

• Always rinse your items to ensure there is no leftover food or liquid that could contaminate other recyclables
• It’s okay to leave the labels on, these can be removed by machines

Here’s what you can’t recycle in your metal bin:

• Sweet wrappers and crisp packets
• Laminated foil
• Metal lids from jars and bottles – these should be recycled with your glass as they are a different kind of material

These items should be recycled at a recycling centre:

• Kitchenware such as cutlery, pots and pans
• White goods, kettles, irons and pipes
• Paint tins or any containers used for storing chemicals

All glass packaging from around the home should be fine to be recycled. This includes items such as:

• Perfume bottles, aftershaves and other personal products such as shaving cream
• Glass food jars such as sauces, jam and baby food
• Bottles of all colours, such as for wines, beers and spirits

Helpful notes on glass recycling:

• Always empty and rinse glass to ensure no residual food or liquids can stop the recycling process
• You can put metal lids back on as these can be recycled together
• You’ll need to check with your local recycling centre whether you can recycle light bulbs and tubes, and window glass

Thing’s you can’t put in your glass recycling bin:

• Cookware and kitchenware such as microwave plates, drinking glasses, vases
• Mirrors
• Ceramics
• Nail varnish bottles

You should be able to recycle all clear and coloured plastic bottles from inside your home. This can include, but is not limited to:

• Shampoo and shower gel bottles
• Drinks bottles
• Milk bottles
• Cleaning product bottles and bleaches (the trigger can be left on)
• Detergent and soap bottles (remove pumps from the bottle as these are not currently able to be recycled)

*Don’t forget to rinse bottles and squash them to create more space.*

What shouldn’t you recycle with plastic bottles?

• Bottles containing chemicals such as anti-freeze or anything that is hazardous or highly poisonous. You should be able to get advice on the packaging
• Black plastic bottles – the colour black cannot be detected by sorting systems and therefore cannot be recycled
• Any form of pot, tub, tray or tube. The rule of thumb is that if it is not a bottle, it shouldn’t be in there!

If your recycling bin takes mixed plastics, then you can deposit all of the above, as well as:

• Plastic pots, tubs and trays from yoghurt, soup, ice cream, butter etc
• Trays / punnets from raw meat, ham, fruit and vegetables
• Plant pots that are not black
• Chocolate biscuits tubs and trays
• Leave these for your general waste bin…
• Anything that is made from black plastic
• Film lids from pots or trays
• Medicine packs
• Toothpaste tubes
• Packaging inserts or expanded polystyrene
• Bread bags
• Bubble wrap

If your council takes Plastic Films, this can include:

• Breakfast cereal liners
• Bread bags
• Toilet roll wrappers
• Shrink wrap from multipacks
• Bags for fruits and vegetables
• Magazine wrappers
• Dry cleaning bags
• Frozen food bags

Tip from WRAP: “As a general rule, if you can stretch the film then it can be recycled.”

These items cannot be collected with Plastic Film recycling:

• Pre-prepared salad bags (such as mixed leaves)
• Bakery wrappers
• Cling film
• Compostable bags
• Any film that is biodegradable

You might be confused by some items on this list (we were). Compostable and biodegradable bags are not designed to be recycled and if they enter the recycling stream they can potentially cause quality issues in the other materials that have been recycled.

There are multiple ways in which food waste can be treated, you can read about these in our other news article ‘supporting the food waste revolution in London’.

The information provided below refers to separate collections of food waste for treatment via anaerobic digestion. Most of these guidelines are also applicable to food waste being treated by in-vessel composting too.

What can you put in your food waste bin?

• Used coffee grounds and tea bags
• Past it’s best or mouldy food
• Fish and meat, raw or cooked and including the bones
• Dairy products
• Grains and pulses
• Bread, cakes and pastries
• Eggs and eggshells
• Fruits, vegetables and peelings
• All uneaten food and plate scrapings

What can’t you put in the food waste bin?

• Any non-food products
• Packaging of any kind
• Liquids 

If you have a separate garden waste collection, you can use it to dispose of the following:

• Hedge clippings and prunings
• Flowers and plants (not their pots)
• Grass and leaves
• Weeds, branches and twigs
• Hay or straw – soiled animal bedding is accepted if it is from non-meat-eating animals, such as rabbits
• You are not permitted to put food waste in your garden waste bin, however vegetable waste such as potato tops are accepted

What is not accepted in your garden waste bin?

• Vacuum dust or fire cinders
• Cat or dog waste
• Flower pots, trays, plastic bags and other plastic items
• Soil, stones or rubble
• Wood that has been treated or painted

If you’ve read this far then we commend you for being a keen recycler and a responsible wheelie bin user! If you’re still not sure about how to recycle something, you can find out here: https://www.recyclenow.com/local-recycling

Source: WRAP Guidelines March 2017 (Amended August 2018)