New recycling rules 31st March 2026

[Dogtrousers]

And they wonder why fly tipping is rife

To be fair, dumping of garden waste isn't a significant contributor to the fly tipping I see. It's mostly matresses, kitchen and bathroom units, sofas, builders rubble...

 

[DRM]

To be fair, dumping of garden waste isn't a significant contributor to the fly tipping I see. It's mostly matresses, kitchen and bathroom units, sofas, builders rubble...

That's my point,everything the council won't allow,or makes difficult to dispose of, ends up in the hedge bottom

 

[Mike_P]

Pretty difficult to chuck dug up plants into a garden bin without any soil on them.
And why is it okay to recycle a glass jam jar but not a broken tumbler?

 

[Webbo2]

Given we all pay for our refuse/ recycling Shirley it’s therefore the council problem to deal with it as we are paying them for that service.

 

[DRM]

Pretty difficult to chuck dug up plants into a garden bin without any soil on them.
And why is it okay to recycle a glass jam jar but not a broken tumbler?

It's bizarre,I used to go to a glass recycling plant in Knottingley, they actually grind broken glass up into a fine powder, it literally turns back into sand!

 

[Dogtrousers]

That's my point,everything the council won't allow,or makes difficult to dispose of, ends up in the hedge bottom

Charging for garden waste bins won't make a blind bit of difference. Most fly tipping is commercial waste.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Pretty difficult to chuck dug up plants into a garden bin without any soil on them.
And why is it okay to recycle a glass jam jar but not a broken tumbler?

The soil thing does cross my mind when filling my garden bin. There's always a bit of soil I. there. I think the "no soil" thing is to discourage people from filling the bin with earth and rubble when doing landscaping.

As to the glass question, they're different kinds of glass. Presumably the glass used for food packaging is more consistent for recycling. Glass for other purposes may not be suitable for recycling, that'd be my guess.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It's bizarre,I used to go to a glass recycling plant in Knottingley, they actually grind broken glass up into a fine powder, it literally turns back into sand!

Depends what they then use it for. If they just use it for filler in roads or something then it won't matter, it's just powder. If they melt it down to remake new glass things then perhaps contaminating soda glass with (say) borosilicate glass may be a bad thing - I don't know I'm not a materials scientist.

 

[classic33]

Depends what they then use it for. If they just use it for filler in roads or something then it won't matter, it's just powder. If they melt it down to remake new glass things then perhaps contaminating soda glass with (say) borosilicate glass may be a bad thing - I don't know I'm not a materials scientist.

We're down for getting separate containers for different coloured glass. We separate them, then they get thrown in the same heap at the council owned recycling centre.
New contractor in October, which is when they expect the new system to be brought in.

 

[Mike_P]

It's not really, dig up the unwanted plants when it's been dry and give them a good shake.

Local soil is clay heavy, dries to akin to concrete.

 

[Alex321]

@PeteXXX we already have similar here in Scotland, but your instructions are more comprehensive than the ones we are given.
Putting wrong items in the bins will result in the bin not being emptied and being "tagged".
However, all bins are emptied in the same waste skip.
When challenged, the council workers said "the manager told us to do it"
I thought this only happened in my run down estate, but a friend that lives in a more affluent area said it's the same there!

It varies considerably between authorities in Wales.

Here in the vale of Glamorgan, we have a white canvas bag for paper, an orange one for cardboard (which includes brown paper), a blue one for hard plastic & metal (Tetrapaks go in this, not the cardboard), a small white one for batteries, a large caddy for glass and a smaller caddy for food waste.

But the truck which collects those has a separate compartment for each of them.

Our general rubbish is collected every three weeks (allowed three black backs per collection).

You can also pay (£20) per year to have garden waste collected, but we don't. Most of that we compost, and what isn't suitable gets taken to the recycling centre when we have other stuff to go up there.

They are also running a trial in some parts of the authority of kerbside collection of soft plastics (which we normally take to Tesco currently)

 

[Accy cyclist]

From the end of March, England is introducing "Simpler Recycling" to standardise collections across the country. You will likely use at least four separate bins for food/garden waste, paper/card, dry recyclables, and general rubbish.

Warning: Putting the wrong items in your recycling bins can result in fines of up to £400.

Items You CANNOT Put in Recycling Bins

1. Glass

• No: Drinking glasses, Pyrex, mirrors, light bulbs, window glass, ceramics, or vases.

• Only glass used as packaging (jars/bottles) is generally accepted.

2. Metal

• No: Cutlery, pots, pans, kettles, irons, or pipes.

• No: Foil pouches (pet food/coffee) or containers for paint/engine oil.

• No: Batteries or electrical items.

3. Plastic

• No: "Compostable" or "biodegradable" plastics (including coffee pods).

• No: Polystyrene, PVC, or bulky items like garden furniture and toys.

• No: Bottles that held chemicals like white spirits or antifreeze.

4. Paper and Card

• No: Tissues, toilet paper, wet wipes, or makeup pads.

• No: Nappies or period products.

• Note: Food/drink cartons (Tetra Pak) should go in the plastic stream, not paper.

5. Food Waste

• No: Packaging of any kind (except approved caddy liners).

• No: Compostable plastic pods.

6. Garden Waste

• No: Soil, stones, gravel, bricks, or sand.

• No: Animal bedding, tea bags, or coffee grounds.

• No: Fencing, garden tools, or plastic plant pots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope that's clear then 👍

This should be fun if a council busy body inspects my bins for 'illegal' items as being in an accessible to the public, though technically not open to the public area I often get stuff put in my bins that isn't mine. Sometimes it's beer, energy drinks cans etc in my bottle and tins bin which is council allowed, but sometimes I get all sorts of crap not allowed by the council, in my bins! The other week someone put lots of filthy bottles, plastic milk containers, energy drink cans etc in my bottle and tins bin. Quite a few looked like they'd been squashed by car tyres. One of my neighbours told me she'd seen the council employed road sweeper emptying the bin off his cart into my bottle bin! 😮

It seems he wanted to make space for more street rubbish so he got rid of what he already had by dumping it in my bin!🫤 If I get a letter from the council saying I've been recycling incorrectly I won't be pleased at all and I'll tell them who one of the culprits is! The above photo shows about a quarter of the dumped stuff, with me having had to to put the other filthy items in a black bin bag and dump it in the MOT centre across the road's skip!

 

[PeteXXX]

This should be fun if a council busy body inspects my bins for 'illegal' items as being in an accessible to the public, though technically not open to the public area I often get stuff put in my bins that isn't mine. Sometimes it's beer, energy drinks cans etc in my bottle and tins bin which is council allowed, but sometimes I get all sorts of crap not allowed by the council, in my bins! The other week someone put lots of filthy bottles, plastic milk containers, energy drink cans etc in my bottle and tins bin. Quite a few looked like they'd been squashed by car tyres. One of my neighbours told me she'd seen the council employed road sweeper emptying the bin off his cart into my bottle bin! 😮

View attachment 803662

It seems he wanted to make space for more street rubbish so he got rid of what he already had by dumping it in my bin!🫤 If I get a letter from the council saying I've been recycling incorrectly I won't be pleased at all and I'll tell them who one of the culprits is! The above photo shows about a quarter of the dumped stuff, with me having had to to put the other filthy items in a black bin bag and dump it in the MOT centre across the road's skip!

You can get wheelie bin locks.. 👍

 

[Accy cyclist]

You can get wheelie bin locks.. 👍

That would be a total pain. Sorting out my different recycling objects on a wet and windy night is bad enough. Having to unlock my three bins would make things a whole lot worse.🙄

 

[PeteXXX]

That would be a total pain. Sorting out my different recycling objects on a wet and windy night is bad enough. Having to unlock my three bins would make things a whole lot worse.🙄

Or you can remain as you are and store other people's stuff.. 👍