Are you recycling right?
We know you’re all making huge efforts to take care of our city and recycle household rubbish, and we thank you all for your commitment!
Unfortunately, we’re still finding “wishcycled” items in our recycling streams. Contamination can lead to entire loads being rejected and sent to landfill, undermining everyone’s hard work and costing us all money!
In Southampton, simplicity is key! There are only SIX specific items that should go in your household recycling bin:
- Plastic bottles (e.g., drinks bottles, milk bottles, cleaning product bottles)
- Aluminium cans (e.g., drinks cans)
- Metal tins (e.g., food tins)
- Paper
- Cardboard (flattened)
- Empty aerosols
Anything else, no matter how recyclable it might seem, should be placed in your general waste bin. Don’t be fooled by the “recyclable” message on many items – this merely means they have the potential to be recycled, it does not necessarily mean they can be recycled in Southampton (yet!).
When it comes to placing items in your recycling bin, simply remember our golden rule: “If in doubt, leave it out!”
Items placed in your green-top bin should be clean, dry, and loose. Please do not bag them up.
Glass bottles and jars have their own system: they should be rinsed out and placed into your black or grey glass recycling box, or taken to your nearest glass collection point.
Thank you for continuing to do your bit to help us reduce contamination in our recycling streams and make Southampton a greener, cleaner city! For more comprehensive information on how to recycle household items, visit our dedicated webpage.