Recycling - What can and cannot be recycled from home?

What items can I recycle from home using my orange sacks or bank?
The items shown below can be mixed together in your orange recycling sacks or black and orange recycling bank:

Glass bottles and jars	All paper and card	Plastic bottles only
All drinks cans, food tins and aerosols	Food and drink cartons (e.g. Tetra Pak)

Recycling tips

Cardboard: Please break down pieces of cardboard that are too big to fit in the orange sacks or place them in a tied bundle beside the sacks.
Cartons: Please rinse any cartons with significant food residue on them.
Glass and cans: Rinsing helps to reduce smells and flies.
Bottles: Please remove lids from bottles before recycling if you can, but recycling a bottle with a lid is better than not recycling it at all!
Confidential paper waste: Bills, statements or documents showing your address should be shredded before being put in the orange bags or banks. Get more information on identity crimes and prevention methods.

Please do not put the following items in the orange sacks
The following items can not be recycled by putting them in your orange sack or recycling bank. Some items can be recycled or reused in other ways and some are best avoided where possible. Find out how:

Garden waste
Food waste
Kitchen foil or foil trays
Clothes or shoes - locations of recycling banks
Ovenware such as Pyrex dishes and saucepans
Yoghurt pots, margarine tubs or other plastic food containers (only plastic bottles can be recycled in the orange sacks or banks)
Plastic carrier bags
Electrical equipment - get further information
Batteries
Plastic coated card like takeaway coffee cups or ice-cream tubs
Lightbulbs

Why can't I put these items in the orange sack?
Recycling of some items can be difficult for two reasons: physical properties of a material, or it being economically unviable. Recycling rubbish into new products is not possible if a market for that product does not exist. For example, because no manufacturer is using scrap plastic from food trays and yoghurt pots they cannot be recycled at the moment. Recycling can also be a problem if the rubbish item is a mixture of more than one material, for example waxed cartons. As recycling technology improves, it will be possible to recycle more in the future.

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