Your green recycling bin

When you put it in your green bin, your recycling should be clean, dry and loose.

If using a sack please make sure it is clear and not black or coloured. Please make sure you rinse your recycling before putting it in your green bin. Food waste, black bags, nappies and textiles are not recyclable inside your green bin and can mean a whole streets’ worth of recycling gets rejected by our recycling facility.

Here’s a list of the things you can put in your green recycling wheelie bin or sack.

*If you’re looking to get rid of items that could go to a new home rather than the bin see our Reduce and Reuse page.

Plastics

Cleaning product and beauty product bottles
Drinks bottles with the tops on
Food and drink cartons (like soup or juice cartons)
Food trays (including black trays)
Ice cream tubs
Large sweet tubs
Margarine tubs
Plastic milk cartons and bottles
Yoghurt pots
Carrier bags

Other plastics we cannot recycle

Black bags
Hard plastic items such as coat hangers, lunch boxes and children’s toys – if these are in good condition, consider taking them to a charity shop
Polystyrene

When possible, please squash the bottle to make more space in your bin.

We cannot recycle soft plastics including

Plastic bags such as breakfast cereal liners, bread bags and delivery bags
Fruit, veg and salad bags
Frozen food bags
Plastic film lids
Cling film used to wrap meat, fish and cheese
Crisp packets and sweet wrappers
Plastic pouches for pet food, baby food and detergent
Bubble wrap
Magazine and newspaper wrappers
Multi-pack wrapping
Toilet roll wrapping

Please take your soft plastics to supermarkets who collect them for recycling. More details on our soft plastics page.

Paper and cardboard

Books (can also be donated to charity shops etc.)
Catalogues
Phone directories
Cereal boxes
Cardboard and cardboard boxes
Envelopes (including envelopes with plastic windows)
Greeting cards (no glitter)
Junk mail
Magazines and newspapers
Shredded paper
Tissue boxes
Toilet roll tubes
Writing paper

Glass

Bottles – any colour – with the lids on
Jars – any colour

Metal

Aerosols
Clean foil
Food tins and cans including pet food
Steel and aluminium food and drink cans (please wash them first)
Metal lids (bottle and jar lids)

What happens to your recycling

Your recycling is taken to a Material Recovery Facility in London and separated into different materials. These are then processed and sold on to companies to be made into brand new products. If the recycling has too many non-recyclable things in it the facility will not accept it so please make sure you recycle correctly.

You can watch a video from Oxfordshire Recycles showing what happens to your recycling.