Blue bin
Bin tagged as being contamined?↑
Our contamination in bins page shows our contamination tags and what they mean.
Your blue bin is collected every 4 weeks from the kerbside (or the agreed collection point) and should be presented by 6:30am on the morning of your collection day.
You can recycle the following in your blue bin:
- paper
- card
- cardboard
Right stuff, right bin!
Don't get caught out by wishcycling. Wishcycling is unintentionally putting the wrong thing in the blue bin.
What you can recycle in the blue bin↑
Plastic (rinsed and squashed)
- Food trays
- Drinks bottles
- Milk bottles
- Tablet and medicine bottles
- Yoghurt pots
- Sauce bottles
- Shampoo bottles
- Hand wash bottles
- Plastic lids and bottle tops
- Tubs
- Cleaning products
- Lids and tops
Cans (emptied and rinsed)
- Drinks cans
- Food tins
- Chocolate and biscuit tins
- Empty aerosol cans
- Aluminium foil
- Foil trays
- Metal lids
Top tips on using your blue bin↑
- All materials should be loose, clean, empty and dry (not bagged)
- Please rinse and squash cans, tins and plastic containers
- Flatten your plastic bottles
- Remove plastic film lids and food tray liners from cartons, plastic trays and pots
- Make sure foil and foil containers are not contaminated by food waste
- Make sure aerosol cans are empty before recycling
In the interest of health and safety, please ensure that your bins are presented at the kerbside for collection without anything attached, including rope or bungee cords, as this can become entangled with our lifting equipment and is a danger to operatives.
Problems occur when recycling bins include items which they are not supposed to, this is called contamination. Putting the wrong items in the wrong bin causes recyclable material to become contaminated, and can lead to it being rejected by our re-processor.
If your burgundy bin contains the wrong material, we will advise you by placing a tag on the bin. The bin will not be uplifted. Any wrong material must be removed and placed in the correct bin/container. The bin can then be presented again on the next scheduled collection day.
What not to put in your bin↑
Please DO NOT PUT the following materials in your blue bin:
- Paper, card and cardboard (use the burgundy bin
- Plastic cups and straws (use the green bin)
- DVD's and CD's (use local charity shops)
- Empty oil and paint cans (use the green bin)
- Pet food pouches (use the green bin)
- Food waste (use the food waste caddy)
- Nappies (use green bin or AHP Collection)
- Polystyrene (use green bin)
- Plastic carrier bags (take to supermarket carrier bag recycling points, reuse them when you next go shopping or to line your kitchen food waste caddy). If not being reused, put in your green bin
- Plastic film and netting, such as cling film, crisp and sweet packets, biscuit wrappers, foiled lined plastics (use green bin)
- Polythene, such as bubble wrap (use green bin)
- Glass bottles (use black box or take to a recycling point)
- Textiles (use textile banks or take to a recycling centres)
- Small electrical items (take to a recycling centre or use small electrical retailer take back scheme)
- Vapes (take to a recycling centre)
- Batteries (take to a recycling centre). Disposing of batteries in the blue bin is a fire risk.
- Wire and cutlery (these items can be recycled at recycling centre)
- Gas bottles (these items can be recycled at recycling centre)
- Metal pots, pans and trays (these items can be recycled at recycling centre)
- General household waste (use green bin)