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Recycling at home
From 13 February until the end of March our team of resource advisors will visit selected homes throughout Belfast that have a blue or brown kerbside bin to offer information about recycling at home.A member of the team, who will be wearing a Belfast City Council uniform, will call at your door between the hours of 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday between these dates. Please make sure you check the ID of anyone calling at your home to avoid bogus callers. Some of our staff calling at your door may be temporary staff and won't have photographic ID, but there will always be a permanent member of staff with official council ID within walking distance, so please make sure you ask to see this ID.
If you aren't at home when we call, we'll leave you a leaflet which lets you know why it is important to recycle. The leaflet also contains information about how to use our recycling services properly. You can download a copy of the leaflet below.
- Download the recycle at home leaflet (PDF - 2MB)
At present, about 70,000 houses in Belfast have a blue recycling bin, and around 60,000 of these homes also have a brown recycling bin.
You can find out what goes in your bins using our A to Z of recycling directory
If you need more information, want to speak to a member of staff, or want to order bins, caddies or bags, please phone our call centre on 0800 032 8100 or email us at wastemanagement@belfastcity.gov.uk
Facts and figures
Costs
It costs £71 per tonne to dispose of the waste you put in your black bin but it only costs us £8 per tonne to recycle.Recycling rates
Our recycling rate is 31 per cent but we estimate that 70 per cent of waste in Belfast could be recycled. We need to recycle 60 per cent of our waste by 2020 to avoid steep fines from the European Union.2010 to 2011
Between 2010 and 2011 we sent 113,000 tonnes of waste to landfill. This cost us around £9.2 million. We recycled 38,300 tonnes, costing us £268,000.This means it is much cheaper to recycle waste using your blue and brown bins instead of putting it in your black bin. Wasting money sending waste to landfill prevents us from investing in services for your community.
Food waste
Last year, only half the households (30,000) with access to our food waste collection service (brown bins) actually used it, but we still saved £52,000 in disposal costs.If everyone recycled their food waste it would save at least £105,000 every year.
