It’s important to recycle the right things because the wrong items in your bin could mean that everything in the bin lorry is rejected and has to be disposed of as ordinary rubbish.
- What can and can't go in your bins (pdf 5.9 mb)
Below is a list of what you can (and can’t) put in your black recycling bin.
What can I recycle?
Paper
Yes please - newspapers, magazines, junk mail, computer paper, envelopes (including windowed envelopes), catalogues and directories, paper bags.
No thanks - shredded paper, gift wrap, plastic-coated (laminated) paper, paper towels, tissues and napkins, wallpaper.
Cardboard
Yes please - cereal packets, food boxes, greetings cards, kitchen and toilet roll holders, corrugated card.
No thanks - any plastic or foam packaging left inside cardboard boxes (please dispose of this in your green bin), pizza boxes (due to food debris).
Plastic bottles
Yes please - food and drink bottles (e.g. milk, cooking oil, squash and fizzy drinks), detergent bottles (e.g. washing up liquid, cleaning fluids, bleach and fabric softener), toiletries (e.g. shampoo, shower gel and liquid soap), bottle tops.
No thanks - bottles containing liquid, spray and pump dispensers.
Tins and cans
Yes please - food tins including pet food tins, drinks cans, sweet and biscuit tins.
No thanks - paint tins, partially full food/pet food tins or dirty tins, other metals or metal packaging.
Aerosols
Yes please - food e.g. cream and oil, deodorant, hairspray.
No thanks - lids, full or partially full aerosols.
Other things you can’t put in your recycling bin
- Other plastic packaging - e.g. yogurt, margarine or ice cream tubs, carrier bags/bin liners, polystyrene, cellophane, food trays etc.
- Cartons - e.g. fruit juice, soup and milk cartons, Tetrapak.
- Domestic waste
- Shredded paper
- Gift wrap
- Garden waste
- Textiles - e.g. clothes, shoes, linen etc.
- Glass Bottles or jars
Why can't I recycle plastic packaging?
Plastic pots, tubs and trays are made up of a wider variety of polymers – e.g. PS, PP, PET, PVC, and LDPE. This range of polymers cannot be successfully sorted in our Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) without investing significantly in new equipment, which at this stage would be too expensive.
Will you start taking different types of recycling?
What we can recycle as a council is specified to us by Hampshire County Council. Waste and recycling from East Hampshire go to facilities in Alton or Portsmouth (depending on where in the district it’s collected from). The material is sorted and sent to be recycled into new products.
Any waste that can’t be recycled is burnt to produce power. This greatly reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfill.