What goes into my containers?

We collect your rubbish, recycling and garden waste in separate bins (with a box for your glass recycling) or in purple and clear sacks.

Your containers should be placed at the edge of your property by 7.00am on the day of your collection.

You can help stop your bins getting lost by marking them with your house number or house name and returning them to your property as soon as possible after they are emptied.

Recycling for flats

If you live in a flat please visit our flats recycling page.

Your recycling and waste service

Our recycling and waste booklet tells you what you can put in your bins and what happens to the things we collect.

Recycling cardboard

If you have extra cardboard that won’t fit into your brown bin, please fold or break it down to a size that would fit and leave it next to your brown bin.

 

Brown recycling bin

You can help us recycle by only putting clean recycling in your containers and by making the most of the space in your bin by squashing plastic bottles and cans (do not squash aerosols cans).

Cardboard can be flattened, folded or torn. Please remove any packaging such as polystyrene.

If your brown bin is full, cardboard can be left alongside it but it needs to be flat and a size that could fit in your bin, it can be tied or taped together. We will accept recycling in alternative containers such as your old recycling box or a hessian/jute bag. Please do not use carrier bags or black bin bags.

Your recycling should be loose in your bin so that it will fall out easily when it’s emptied.

Yes please:

  • newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, catalogues
  • junk mail, envelopes, greeting cards
  • cardboard food boxes and egg boxes
  • toilet or kitchen inner cardboard rolls
  • corrugated card
  • food and drink cartons such as juice, milk and soup
  • household plastics such as drinks bottles, shampoo bottles, cleaning bottles, make-up cleanser bottles and washing up liquid bottles
  • food and drink cans/tins
  • food trays and tubs (e.g. fruit punnets, trays from microwave meals)
  • yogurt pots
  • aerosol cans
  • clean foil
  • paper wrapping paper (Not plastic or foil wrapping paper)

Clear recycling sack

No thank you:

  • shredded paper
  • plastic carrier bags
  • newspaper supplements still in plastic packaging
  • crisp packets
  • cellophane/bubble wrap
  • greasy food packaging (e.g. pizza boxes)
  • polystyrene
  • plant pots
  • food
  • glass
  • tissues and kitchen roll
  • household waste
  • cards with glitter or foil
  • nappies
  • metal i.e. cutlery or paint tins
  • hard plastics i.e. CDs, DVDs, toys or sweet tubs
  • clothes or textiles
  • wallpaper
  • food pouches (e.g. pet food pouches)

If in doubt, leave it out.

Yes please:

Black bin and purple sacks

  • waste from your home that cannot be recycled

No thank you:

Yes please:

Black recycling box

  • glass bottles
  • glass jars
  • metal caps and lids from jars/bottles

No thank you:

  • pyrex style glass
  • drinking glasses
  • broken glass
  • light bulbs
  • vases

Yes please:

Green wheelie bin

  • lawn clippings
  • small branches - no thicker than 7.5cm (3 inches)
  • prunings
  • flowers
  • leaves
  • windfall fruit, cones and seeds that have fallen into your garden
  • weeds

No thank you:

  • compostable bags
  • soil and turf
  • bricks and rubble
  • large branches and tree stumps
  • food waste
  • animal faeces
  • plastic bags or sacks
  • plant pots, trays or hanging baskets
  • pesticides or weed killer
  • ash
  • wood other than branches/twigs
  • sawdust, shavings and woodchip
  • wood or straw based animal bedding
  • Japanese knotweed
  • Himalayan balsam
  • Ragwort

Making the most of your garden waste collections

Here are our top tips for making the most of your garden waste collections:

  • Do not overfill your green bin. Very heavy bins can cause problems when placed onto the vehicle lift. As a general rule your garden waste bin should be easily moved using one hand. 
  • Remove as much soil as possible from any plant roots.
  • Remember that soil and turf cannot be recycled - so please don’t place these into the green bin.

More information on garden waste collections and alternatives such as home composting can be found at RecycleNow

Clothes recycling banner

You can recycle old clothes by putting them next to your recycling bin on your collection day in a carrier bag or clear plastic bag.

Your clothes may not be collected at the same time as the rest of your recycling. We can’t collect clothes in charity bags as they can only be picked up by the charity that supplied them.

You can download and print a label to stick to your bag of clothes so we can easily tell what’s inside. If we can’t see what’s in the bag it may not be collected.