What goes in my bins and boxes?

What goes in your bins and boxes?

You must sort your waste before collection to recycle as much as you can.  

This reduces the amount of waste sent to expensive landfill and treatment and helps our city meet our recycling targets. It also contributes to a cleaner environment and support jobs locally through more recycling.  

Lots of everyday household items can be recycled – use this guide to help you if you’re not sure what goes in each bin.

Recycling bin

• Aerosol cans
• Aluminium foil (clean)
• Biscuit tins
• Cardboard food boxes
• Cartons (including TetraPak)
• Dry, clean cardboard
• Empty plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
• Food tins, drinks tins and cans (empty and clean)
• Magazine and catalogues
• Paper (no tissues)
• Soft back books
• Toilet roll tubes

General waste bin

For materials that you can't recycle including:

• Tablet blister packs
• Broken glass
• Bubble wrap
• Cellophane wrapping
• Crisp bags and containers
• Nappies
• Period products
• Tissues
• Wipes
• Plastic cutlery
• Styrofoam
• Takeaway drinks containers

Compost bin

• Bones
• Bottle corks
• Cold ashes
• Eggshells
• Food waste
• Fruit and vegetable peelings
• Grass cuttings
• Hedge trimmings
• Leaves, twigs and small branches
• Paper napkins
• Plants and flowers
• Shredded paper
• Takeaway pizza boxes (torn up)
• Teabags and coffee grounds
• Weeds
• Wet paper and wet cardboard

Black or red recycling boxes

Option one

• Aerosol cans
• Clean aluminium foil
• Food and drink cans
• Food and drink cartons (for example, milk or juice)
• Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays

Option two

• Cardboard
• Paper (no tissues)

Option three

• Glass bottles and jars

Textiles - leave in a tied bag next to your recycling boxes.

What you can't put in your recycling boxes:

• Batteries
• Hand tools

Wheelie boxes

Top box

• Cardboard
• Paper (no tissues)

Middle box

• Aerosol cans
• Clean aluminium foil
• Food and drink cans
• Food and drink cartons
• Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays

Bottom box

• Glass bottles and jars

Textiles - leave in a tied bag and place into any of your wheelie boxes.

What you can't put in your wheelie boxes:

• Batteries
• Hand tools

Green food waste bin

• Bread, cake and pastries
• Fruit and vegetables
• Meat, fish and cheese
• Potato and vegetable peelings
• Rice, beans and pasta
• Teabags and coffee grounds
• Vegetables and vegetable peelings 
• Any other leftover food

Glass recycling box

• Glass bottles and jars

If you only have one or two boxes rotate the materials you present each week, for example put out paper and cardboard one week, and glass the next week.

If you have more recycling than will fit into your recycling boxes, you can leave a single additional tied bag containing one type of item next to your recycling boxes and we will collect it with the rest of your recycling.

Top tips for recycling at home

• Take some time to sort your recycling ahead of your collection day. 
• Rinse your items - cans, bottles and trays - to remove any food. Leaked food on other items can ruin the rest of your recycling efforts. It can also cause smells and attract pests during warmer weather. 
• Crush or squash items to save space in your bin.
• Keep lids on bottles – we cannot take loose lids in recycling.
• Put food waste in your kitchen caddy (then into your compost bin) or green food waste caddy bin.
• Avoid common culprits – these items are not recyclable and must go in your general waste bin:
  • Takeaway coffee cups 
  • Nappies 
  • Cling film 
  • Bubble wrap 
  • Plastic bags and mixed rubbish 
• Have a look at what you can also recycle and re-use at our recycling centres and civic amenity sites which accept a wide range of everyday items for reuse, resale or recycling.
• If you have containers for glass recycling, make sure to use them. If you don’t, use bottle banks instead.
• Use textile banks to donate old clothes and other textiles.
• Consider donating old items you no longer use to charity stores, sell them online or swap your friends – lots of items can be reused again and again.
• Take a look at our recycling initiatives, helping to recycle items like old laptops and spectacles.

What happens when you put the wrong materials in your bins or boxes

If you don’t put the right items in each bin or box, we cannot collect it.  

When this happens, we’ll place a contamination tag on your bin. You’ll need to remove the items before we can empty your bin or box on your next collection day.  

We do this because accepting the wrong items can contaminate our whole collection, meaning all waste in the lorry may have to go to landfill or we are forced to pay extra costs to treat the contaminated waste 

If you’re not sure about something, check it out here first – if you’re still uncertain, put it in your general waste bin instead.

Batteries, vapes and small electrical items

Don’t put batteries, vapes or small electrical items in your bins or boxes as they can significantly increase the risk of fires in bins, lorries and at our sorting and recycling facilities.  

Most shops that sell batteries have a battery recycling bin. They can also be taken to a recycling centre.  

Our recycling centres also have disposable vape recycling bins. Refillable vapes can be placed in the small electrical container. Remove the batteries if possible and recycle them separately.  

Other small electrical items can be taken to recycling centres. Again, remove batteries if you can and recycle them separately.

Disposing of needles and other sharps

Sharps (needles, syringes and lancets) are clinical waste. You must not put this waste in any domestic bin or bring it to a recycling centre or civic amenity site. This waste could injure recycling and waste collection staff. 

Sharps boxes are available on prescription or can be bought in pharmacies. The pharmacy can give advice on disposing of a full sharps box.

• Find out how to report discarded needles or drug waste

Help and support

Get advice if you’re not sure about your bin or box collections, or have a question about sorting your waste.  

• View all our bin and recycling box Frequently Asked Questions 

You can also email [email protected].or call us on 028 9027 0230 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (our phone lines may vary during holiday periods).

 This page is also updated regularly with details of what can go in each bin.