What goes in my bin?

You may have up to 4 wheelie bins for your home. Find out what goes in each one and help the environment by recycling as much rubbish as possible.  

Recycling - green-lidded bin

The wheelie bin with the green lid is for your recycling. 

It is collected every other week - check when on the bin collection calendar. Make sure your bin is out by 6am so we don’t miss it. Return it to its storage place when it’s been emptied. 

Anything in this bin should be clean, dry, empty and loose. Please do not bag waste you put in this bin. 

We can recycle: 

• paper such as newspapers, junk mail, or envelopes
• tins and cans including food, drink and aerosol cans
• cardboard such as cereal boxes, egg boxes, and cardboard tubes
• and plastics (with the lids removed) including drinks, milk or shampoo bottles, margarine tubs or yoghurt pots. 

We can’t recycle shredded paper or takeaway pizza boxes and these should go in your general waste bin. 

With recycling if in doubt, leave it out. 

Glass recycling - blue-lidded bin

The wheelie bin with the blue lid is for glass bottles and jars. 

It is collected every 8 weeks - check when on the bin collection calendar. Make sure your bin is out by 6am so we don’t miss it. 

Sheet glass, drinking glasses, mirrors, and vases should not be put in this bin as our recycling partner cannot process them. You can take this sort of glass to a recycling point or tip, or put it in your general waste bin. 

If you don’t have many glass bottles and jars to get rid of you don’t have to have a blue-lidded bin. You could share a bin with a neighbour or take your glass waste to a recycling point, usually found in supermarket car parks or at the recycling centre (tip). Call us on 0800 183 84 84 or email environment@ashfield.gov.uk if you no longer want a glass recycling bin.  

General waste - red-lidded bin

The wheelie bin with the red lid is for general waste. 

It is collected every other week - check when on the bin collection calendar. Make sure your bin is out by 6am so we don’t miss it. 

This bin is for rubbish that can’t be recycled. This includes:

• crisp packets
• takeaway containers
• toothpaste tubes
• plastic bags 
• or pet food pouches. 

We’re trying to reduce landfill waste. Recycle as much rubbish as you can in your other bins or at recycling points. 

Batteries should be disposed of separately. Find a local battery collection point here. 

You should bag rubbish and tie tightly before putting it into this bin. Airtight pedal bin liners are best and will stop smells escaping. 

If you have something which is too big for the bin - such as a cooker or fridge - you can book a bulky waste collection from us. 

Garden waste - brown-lid or black bin

For a low cost of £28 per year we’ll give you another bin for garden waste. We collect this fortnightly between March and September. 

Sign up for these collections or find out what goes in this bin on the garden waste page. You can also compost garden waste at home. If you need a compost bin or kitchen caddy you can get one from Get Composting.