Recycling rules are a lot like algebra – you understand what you’re supposed to do, but it still doesn’t quite add up. But we’re here to change that! We’ve laid out what you can and can’t recycle, as well as some general bin rules that may have been lost in translation. With this handy guide, you’ll be a recycling genius in no time.
According to Hambleton District Council:
Here’s what you CAN put into your recycling bins:
Blue lidded black bin:
- • Aerosols
- • Biscuit and chocolate tins
- • Cardboard (all colours)
- • Egg cartons
- • Cartons – food, drink and similar containers – rinsed
- • Envelopes (including windowed)
- • Foil and aluminium food trays – rinsed
- • Food packaging card
- • Greeting cards (remove glitter and decorations)
- • Junk mail, catalogues, newspapers and magazines
- • Office paper – white and colour
- • Other paper – including clean paper bags
- • Pet food tins – rinsed
- • Plastic bottles – rinsed
- • Plastic containers (every colour except black) – rinsed
- • Shredded paper – this must be put into a cardboard box such as a cereal box
- • Steel and aluminium food and drink cans
- • Telephone directories
- • Metal lids
Blue box:
- • Glass Jars (lids off)
- • Glass Bottles (lids off and no corks)
Green bin:
- • Grass cuttings
- • Hedge clippings
- • Small pet bedding (not newspaper)
- • Garden fruit windfall
- • Moss
- • Leaves
- • Plants and weeds
- • Bark
- • Real trees (must be chopped up)
Here’s what CANNOT go into your recycling bins:
Blue lidded black bin:
- Black plastic trays
- Black sacks – empty or full
- Bubble wrap
- Car products
- Card and aluminium takeaway container lids
- Corks
- Corrugated plastic sheeting
- Crisp packets
- DIY products
- Domestic and commercial oil cans
- Domestic insecticide containers
- Foil laminate pouches – including pet food and drinks
- Food waste
- Glue containers
- Hard back books
- Light bulb and batteries
- Metal paint tins
- Nappies
- Oil cans
- Paint aerosols
- Plastic carrier bags
- Plastic packaging films and cling film – biscuit wrappers and crisp packets
- Plastic plant and paint pots
- Polystyrene – cups, pizza trays and packaging materials
- Small UHT milk cartons and coffee pods
- Takeaway pizza boxes and drink cups
- Textiles and clothing
- Toys, videos tapes, CDs and DVDs
- Used kitchen roll/tissues
- Wallpaper and photographs
- Washing up bowls, cutlery and drainer trays
- Compostable or biodegradable plastic packaging
Blue box:
- Drinking Glasses
- Pyrex/ceramics
- Window glass
- Spectacles
Green bin:
- Ash
- All plastic bags, including compostable/biodegradable
- Cardboard and paper
- Cat and dog waste
- Food waste
- Fruit and veg peelings
- Household rubbish
- Pumpkins
- Plant pots
- Stone, soil, turf and compost
- Treated wood/bark
As well, your council has a few extra notes to keep in mind when sorting out your waste.
An easy way to save space in your bin is to squash all plastic bottles and cardboard before recycling. We recommend doing this after a particularly stressful day at work.
To make sure everything stays uncontaminated and ready for recycling, please make sure everything is clean and dry before you put it into the recycling bins.
Safety first! Glass must be kept separate and away from paper and cardboard – so you should place it in your blue box. If glass is found in your wheelie bin, it won’t be emptied due to contamination.
An avid gardener? Garden waste removal is only provided as a subscription-based service.
For more of Hambleton’s recycling details, just follow the link here.
Where does it all go?
Your recycling is taken to the Yorwaste transfer station at Tancred. From there, depending on the material, it’s taken to different places.
Glass & Mixed recycling
Your glass is taken to Berrymans in West Yorkshire, and your mixed recycling is collected by UPM in North Wales to be sorted (but not into Hogwarts houses!).
The majority of paper is recycled into newsprint, so you could be reading the morning news off last month’s office memos! The rest of the mixed recycling is sold to the UK and abroad for further recycling.
Did you know? During 2020-2021, 92% of your kerbside recycling was processed right here in the UK.
Garden waste
Your garden waste goes to composting sites operated by Yorwaste.
There, they use a managed open window composting process, which produces a compost that meets the British Standards Institution PAS100 standards. That’s some fancy compost!
This compost is called Yorganics, and is 100% recycled, peat-free, and locally sourced and produced. It’s basically the bees’ knees in terms of compost and is ideal for garden veg and plants.
Interested to learn how to compost at home? Just read our handy how-to guide!
If you’d like to learn more about where your recycling goes, just follow the link here.
We hope this helps uncomplicate your local recycling rules and makes it easier to sort through your paper and tins. We know recycling isn’t the answer to the waste crisis, but it’s a step in the right direction. Happy recycling!
This information is up to date as of 07 April 2022.
