Waste and recycling bins, boxes and bags

Yes please:

• Grass clippings
• Hedge trimmings
• Flowers and pot plants
• Leaves
• Weeds
• Small twigs and branches (no bigger than 100mm/4″ in diameter)
• Windfall fruit
• Vegetable waste from the garden only e.g. potato tops (not kitchen waste)

No thanks:

• Food waste (including fruit and vegetables peeling)
• Soil and compost
• Animal waste, including pet litter and bedding
• Plastic bags and bin liners (including biodegradable bags)
• Sawdust

Please ensure the lid is flat and no excess waste is presented as it will not be collected.

Find out what happens next to your garden waste.

Plastic – yes please:

Plastic pots, tubs and trays:

• Pots (e.g. yogurt, soup, etc.)
• Tubs (e.g. margarine, ice cream, etc.)
• Trays / punnets (e.g. raw meat or ham trays; take-away trays; fruit /veg trays)
  • remove any film lids and absorbent pads in the bottom of trays, and put these in your general rubbish
• Plastic chocolate and biscuit tubs
• Plastic bottles: All clear and coloured plastic bottles from around the home, including:
  • day-to-day cleaning product bottles (e.g. bathroom cleaners, washing up liquid, bleach):
  • remove pumps and dispose of these (these are currently not recyclable); and
  • triggers can be left on to be recycled
• Cosmetics bottles (e.g. shampoo, shower gel)
• Ready to use plant food and pesticide bottles (check the label)
• Drinks bottles (e.g. juice, squash, milk).

Plastics – no thanks

• Black plastic – sorting equipment cannot detect the colour black and therefore it is not recycled
• Crisp and sweet packets/wrappers
• Film lids from the pots or trays
• Laminated pouches (e.g. cat food/coffee pouches that spring back when you try and scrunch them
• Plastic toys
• Medicine packs (e.g. headache pills, etc.)
• Toothpaste tubes
• Expanded polystyrene e.g. packaging inserts
• Plastic bottles containing chemicals (e.g. anti-freeze). -Strong chemicals that are highly poisonous are hazardous to staff and can damage the recycling equipment. Check the bottle for disposal instructions
• Carrier bags/plastic wrapping film e.g. bread bags and bubble wrap
• Hygiene/Sanitary products (i.e. nappies, wipes, sanitary towels etc.).

Cardboard – yes please:

All card from around the home, including:

• Cardboard boxes (e.g. cereal boxes, dishwasher table boxes, pizza boxes)
• Corrugated cardboard (e.g. online delivery boxes, cardboard envelopes)
  • remove all plastic inserts and polystyrene, as well as packing tape
• Greetings cards without glitter
  • tear off the glitter section, as well as any badges and batteries – the glitter cannot be removed and the recycled card has to be rejected
• Food and drink cartons, for example, for soup, milk and juice.

Cardboard – no thanks:

• Any cardboard which has food waste in it
• Cardboard containers with a metal base like pringles
• Card with glitter
• Extra large boxes – please tear up into smaller pieces.

Please remember:

• Don’t put your recycling in a black sack or carrier bag. It may be mistaken for rubbish, resulting in none of it being recycled and entire vehicle loads (tonnes) of recycling to be sent to landfill
• Rinse food packaging – left-over food residue can contaminate other recyclables. A quick rinse will do
• Empty and rinse bottles, squash and replace lids/tops
  • o if bottles contain liquid they might not be recycled as they go through the automated sorting process (the extra weight stops the bottle being pushed into the correct recycling stream). Liquid can also damage the machinery and contaminate other recyclables
  • boxes can be squashed to give more space in the recycling bin
• Labels and bottle tops can all be left on – but plastic film must be removed and put in the general rubbish bin.

Please ensure the lid is flat and no excess waste is presented as it will not be collected.

Find out what happens next to your plastics, cardboard and cartons.

Yes please:

• Newspapers and supplements
• Magazines, brochures and catalogues
• White paper (e.g. computer paper, letters)
• Telephone directories
• Leaflets and flyers
• Envelopes
  • remove window and adhesive strip
• Shredded paper in a carrier bag.
• Gift wrap
  • wrapping paper can be recycled if it passes the scrunch test – if you can scrunch it and it stays in a ball without springing back, it can be recycled.
  • please remove any sticky tape and decorations such as ribbons and bows as these cannot be recycled.
  • paper with glitter on must go in the general waste.

No thanks:

• Sticky papers (e.g. post-it notes, sticky labels and paper tape)
• Wallpaper
• Hygiene/Sanitary products (i.e. nappies, wipes, sanitary towels etc.)
• Tissues and used paper towels
• Wet wipes
• Cotton wool, make up pads.

Please remember:

• Remove any plastic wrapping and free gifts from newspapers, magazines and flyers
• Additional paper will be accepted in a carrier bag placed next to the blue box.

For health and safety reasons the collection crews can only empty North Lincolnshire Council scheme boxes.

Find out what happens next to your paper.

Yes please

• Bottles of any colour (e.g. wine, beer, spirits)
• Jars (e.g. sauces, jam, baby food)
• Non-food bottles (e.g. perfume, aftershave, face creams)
• Drinks cans
• Food tins
• Biscuit/chocolate tins and their lids
• Aerosols
  • Remove plastic caps and recycle with plastics
  • Only recycle empty aerosol cans
• Aluminium foil (e.g. for baking, covering food)
  • Scrunch foil together to form a ball
• Aluminium foil trays (e.g. take-away trays)
• Aluminium tubes e.g. tomato puree o Remove plastic caps
• All household batteries including ‘button’ batteries from watches, Battery packs from laptops, mobile phones, power tools and remote control units.

No thanks

• Laminated foil (e.g. cat food / coffee pouches that spring back when you try and scrunch them. Pouches are currently not recyclable)
• Glass other than packaging (e.g. Pyrex, microwave plates, drinking glasses, vases, mirrors, window glass) – Why’s that? These types of glass do not melt at the same temperature as bottles and jars. If they enter the glass recycling process it can result in new containers being rejected
• Ceramics (e.g. crockery or earthenware)
• Nail varnish bottles o It is difficult to remove the varnish and the bottles are so small that they are filtered out during the recycling process
• Light bulbs/tubes.

Please remember:

• Additional cans will be accepted in a carrier bag placed next to the green box. For safety reasons we regret we cannot collect glass in carrier bags
• Empty and rinse – it doesn’t need to be spotlessly clean, a quick rinse will do. Left over liquid and residue can contaminate other materials which may mean they are not recycled
• You can leave labels on: machines ensure these get removed
• Metal lids and caps can be put back on – these will be removed and recycled. These are different metals to cans/tins/aerosols so are recycled in a different way and by putting the lids/caps back on glass jars and bottles it reduces the chance of them getting lost through the sorting process.

For health and safety reasons the collection crews can only empty North Lincolnshire Council scheme boxes.

Additional cans will be accepted in a carrier bag placed next to the green box. For safety reasons we regret we cannot collect glass in carrier bags.

Find out what happens next to your glass, batteries, tins, cans, foil and aerosols.

Your green or grey bin is for general waste which cannot be recycled.

 We cannot collect…

• Commercial waste
• Excess waste
• Building materials
• Soil and rubble
• Asbestos
• Medical – Needles, plasters, syringes, blood bags etc
• Large amounts of pet waste
• Batteries and electrical items.

Please ensure lids are flat and no excess waste is presented as it will not be collected.

Find out what happens next to the contents of your general waste bin.

We offer a variety of bin exchanges designed to suit your household’s needs as follows:

• Downsize General Waste Only – Exchange your 240L General Waste bin for a 140L General Waste bin.
• Downsize General Waste and Upgrade One Recycling Bin – Exchange your 240L General Waste bin for a 140L General Waste bin, AND upsize either your burgundy (mixed recycling) or brown (Garden Waste) bin to 240L.
• Downsize General Waste and Upgrade Both Recycling Bins – Exchange your 240L General Waste bin for a 140L General Waste bin, AND upsize both your burgundy and brown bins to 240L.
• Upgrade Recycling Bins Only (If you already have a 140L General Waste Bin) – If you currently use a 140L General Waste bin, you can upsize either or both of your recycling bins (burgundy/brown) to 240L.

Please see our fees and charges page for more information.

Households with five or more permanent residents may be eligible to apply for a larger wheeled bin. Please note that all requests will be assessed, and meeting the criteria does not guarantee that a larger bin will be provided. The council reserves the right to make the final decision based on the full assessment.

Assessment Criteria

To be considered for an assessment, your household must first complete the application form and satisfy all of the following initial criteria:

• Minimum Occupancy: There must be five or more permanent residents in the household.
• Current Bin Provision: The household must already have, and be using, the standard set of bins:
  • A minimum of 1 x 240L General Waste bin (grey/black, for unrecyclable waste).
  • A minimum of 1 x 240L Recycling bin (burgundy, for dry mixed recyclables).
  • A minimum of 1 x 140L Garden/Food Waste Bin (brown, for composting).
• Active Recycling: The occupants must be actively engaged in recycling and demonstrate regular use of the kerbside recycling service (burgundy/brown bins) and local Household Waste Recycling Centres for all recyclable and appropriate materials.

To apply for a larger bin please complete our online form:

You can now choose to have a larger bin for your garden waste. An increase from 140 litres to 240 litres (more than 70 percent). Please see our fees and charges page for more information.

For people with larger gardens this will reduce the need to travel to household recycling centres, reducing their carbon footprint.

If you wish to take advantage of this offer, please complete the form to register your interest.

Before you report a missed collection, remember to ask yourself the following questions:

• Was your bin out on the correct date and time? (Containers should be presented by 6am for trade and 7am for domestic on your collection day.)
• Was your collection day affected by a bank holiday this week?
• Did your bin contain the correct material?

If your bins have been missed please be aware that we will carry out the following checks on our systems:

• In cab
• Crew reports
• CCTV
• Tracking

This checks whether the bins/boxes were presented on time or if there were any issues with the bins/boxes that have been logged on our systems, for example, contaminated or too heavy.

If, after all checks have been done, and the bin was missed by the crews we will return within four working days from initial customer notification.

Please put your wheeled bins, boxes and small electrical items out by 7am at the edge of your property on collection day. We provide an assisted collection service for residents who are unable to present their bins and boxes for emptying.

Please do not report a missed bin or box until after 5pm on your collection day, unless your adjacent neighbours either side have been emptied as the crew can still collect until 6pm.

We are unable to return for any missed boxes until your next collection day, however, please complete the missed collection form so that we can issue an instruction to the crew to ensure they are emptied next time.

If you still believe that your containers have not been collected through no fault of your own, please complete the form below and we will investigate.

Please put your wheeled bins, boxes and small electrical items out by 7am at the edge of your property on collection day. We provide an assisted collection service for residents who are unable to present their bins and boxes for emptying.

Please do not report a missed bin or box until after 5pm on your collection day, unless your adjacent neighbours either side have been emptied as the crew can still collect until 6pm.

If you still believe that your containers have not been collected through no fault of your own, please complete the form below and we will investigate.

Please put your commercial wheeled bins out by 6am at the edge of your commercial premises on collection day.

To report a missed commercial collection, please complete our online form.

Returning your bins

We request that you return your empty bins to your commercial premises after they are collected. Do not leave your bins on the highway/pavement as under the Highways Act 1980 it is an offence to obstruct the highway including pavements.