It looks like you're using IE11...
This browser offers limited functionality on our website. We recommend you use the latest version of Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox.
We are now recycling around 42 per cent of our waste in Belfast. Instead of going to landfill, it is being recycled and reused again and again, creating jobs locally, saving important resources and reducing harmful carbon emissions.
All that sorting, rinsing and crushing, going the extra mile to check whether something can be recycled – it all pays off.
By recycling, you’re supporting our city to be more sustainable, and if you don’t recycle yet, now’s the time to start.
Whether it’s creating more space in your household waste bin, passing on things you no longer need to a new home or creating opportunities for businesses and social enterprises to turn old items into new products, recycling works!
Our recycling efforts not only help reduce environmental impact and save money, but also support the local economy by creating jobs. The city operates several recycling centres and partners with local recycling companies such as Natural World Products, Enva, and Cherry Pipes, which process thousands of tonnes of waste.
These operations require a workforce for collection, sorting, processing, and logistics, contributing to employment in the waste management and recycling sector. Overall, Belfast’s approach to recycling promotes sustainability while also generating economic and job opportunities in the region.
You can find recycling data for Belfast on My Recycling NI (link opens in new window).
We have a ‘linear economy’, where materials are taken from the environment and used to make products. We then use those products and then we dispose of them. This linear, take-make-use-dispose system creates a pattern of consumption, production and waste that the planet cannot sustain.
A circular economy is a more sustainable and alternative economic system than the linear economy. It minimises waste and pollution and uses fewer resources and energy by reducing waste and keeping products, parts and materials in use. It is not just recycling, but includes repairing, reusing and returning products, for example returning bottles to be refilled.
In the circular economy, the amount produced and consumed is reduced. Waste is reduced and the use of products is maximised before they go back into the system to be used again, minimising waste.
Recycling is a big improvement in the linear economy and is a first step towards a circular economy.
Moving to a circular economy will be a gradual change. It means switching some jobs from extracting raw materials, making new products and disposal, to maintaining, repairing and recycling. Circular economies can sustain more jobs than linear economies as these processes are harder to automate.
A circular economy can:
Circular economy approaches and solutions have always existed and there are many examples, locally and at home, including:
There are more and more examples of organisations and schemes in Belfast that work using the circular economy model. These include:
If you are interested in moving your organisation or company towards a more circular way of working, or would like more information on the circular economy, email us at [email protected] to request a copy of our circular economy information pack.
Currently kerbside glass recycling is available to many households in Belfast. If you have a purple recycling box, you can recycle glass bottles and jars every fortnight at the kerbside. If your household has a weekly recycling box collection, you can also recycle glass bottles and jars at the kerbside.
To recycle glass bottles and jars, you must use the 44-litre recycling box we provide. Glass must be secured in the box with the lid on. Don't put broken glass in the recycling box. You should place this in the general waste bin. You can leave lids and caps on the bottles and jars when you put them in your glass recycling box.
The project will run in three phases from 2025 to 2027:
For phase one, we have selected addresses in east and west Belfast where residents will have kerbside glass collections. We have not yet identified which areas to cover during phases two and three.
There are approximately 70,000 households that don’t have a kerbside recycling collection for glass bottles and jars. We have a three-year project to provide glass recycling collections to households in areas that don’t have this service.
Show your commitment to a cleaner city by signing the Belfast Business Litter Pledge. Participating businesses receive a free litter kit, including:
Sign up for the Belfast Litter Pledge (link opens in new window) or email [email protected].