What goes in your green boxes
We provide 2 green boxes for you to sort and separate your recycling.
All items must be empty, rinsed and not contaminated with food. Fabric items must be clean and dry, otherwise it is not possible to recycle them.
If you are struggling to fit everything in you can order another box free of charge and separate out different types of items further.
Items not listed below will not be collected. Read about what we can’t collect and why.
Recycling box 1
What you can put in
- plastic bottles, tubs and trays*
- tins, cans and aerosols
- aluminium foil
- cardboard and brown paper packaging
- cartons
*No black plastic or bioplastic
Squash plastics and cans and keep them together.
Keep cardboard and cartons together.
Recycling box 2
What you can put in
- glass bottles and jars
- newspapers and magazines
- paper
- shredded paper*
- batteries*
- vapes*
- clothes and textiles*
- paired shoes*
- towels, sheets and blankets*
- small electrical items known as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
*Use plastic bags to separate these items.
Keep the glass bottles and jars together.
Keep newspapers, magazines and paper together.
To check how to correctly dispose of items not listed above use the look-up tool on the Recycle Now website.
Soft plastics
There is currently a household collection trial underway in some areas for soft plastics such as carrier bags, bread bags, food wrappings. These should be bagged and placed in box 1, but only if you are on the trial. It is not possible to request to join the trial.
Find out more about the trial
Why we ask you to separate different items
Our collection vehicles have separate compartments for different items. The collection crews can put things in the right compartment quicker when your recycling is sorted first.
This means fewer items need to be sent for mechanical sorting which saves money and carbon emissions.