Please see below summaries of what can be put in each of your household bins.
Hampshire County Council process the materials that we collect and decide what can (and can’t) be recycled.
Please visit their website for more detailed information.
Contamination (putting the wrong things in your bin) means that we can't recycle everything that we could, and that non-recyclables have to be sifted out at the recycling centre and taken to be burned for power.
If we find contamination in your recycling bin before it is emptied, we'll put a hanger on your bin and our crews won't take it. You'll have to remove the contamination and wait until your next collection for the bin to be taken.
Find out more on our contamination page
Recycling bin
Yes please – make sure it’s clean, dry and loose
- Paper - newspapers, magazines, junk mail, computer paper, envelopes (including windowed envelopes), catalogues and directories, paper bags
- Cardboard - cereal packets, food boxes, greetings cards, empty kitchen and toilet roll holders, corrugated card
- Plastic bottles - food and drink bottles (e.g. milk, cooking oil, squash and fizzy drinks), detergent bottles (e.g. washing up liquid, cleaning fluids, bleach and fabric softener), toiletries (e.g. shampoo, shower gel and liquid soap), bottle tops. The recycling machine looks for bottle shapes and will reject anything which isn't.
- Tins and cans - rinsed aluminium or steel food tins including pet food tins, rinsed drinks cans, sweet and biscuit tins
- Aerosols - food e.g. cream and oil, deodorant, hairspray (without a skull and crossbones or black cross on an orange background on it)
No thanks
- Shredded paper, gift wrap, plastic-coated (laminated) paper, paper towels, tissues and napkins, wallpaper
- Plastic or foam packaging left inside cardboard boxes (please dispose of this in your green bin), pizza boxes (due to food debris)
- Plastic bottles containing liquid, spray and pump dispensers
- Paint tins, partially full food/pet food tins or dirty tins, other metals or metal packaging.
- Aerosol lids, full or partially full aerosols
- Other plastic packaging - e.g. yogurt, margarine or ice cream tubs, carrier bags/bin liners, polystyrene, cellophane, food trays etc.
- Cartons - e.g. fruit juice, soup and milk cartons, Tetrapak
- Domestic waste
- Garden waste
- Textiles - e.g. clothes, shoes, linen etc.
- Glass Bottles or jars
Refuse bin
Please put things in your bin in sturdy plastic bags. Our crews will not collect bins that represent a safety hazard.
Yes please
- Plastic packaging (e.g. food pots, tubs and trays)
- Plastic bags, film and wrapping
- Food waste
- Disposable nappies
- Non-infectious medical and sanitary waste
- Pet waste
- Polystyrene
- Bottle tops
- Shredded paper
- Tetrapaks/cartons
No thanks
- Things that can be recycled (see above)
- Heavy building waste (e.g. bricks, rubble, hard-core and soil)
- Garden waste
- Infectious medical waste
- Clinical waste (e.g. syringes)
- Hot ashes
- Hazardous waste (e.g. paint, chemicals, gas bottles, industrial oils)
- Commercial waste
- Wood
Glass box
Yes please
- Rinsed out glass bottles and jars of all colours (without corks or tops)
- Glass should be in a 38 litre box and weigh less than 5.5kg
No thanks
- Pyrex
- Light bulbs
- Glass panes
- Lead crystal glass
- Ceramics
- Non-glass items
- Broken glass
Small items including broken glass should be carefully wrapped and put in your refuse bin. Larger items can be taken to the tip (HWRC).
Garden waste bin
Yes please
- Grass cuttings
- Hedge cuttings
- Real Christmas trees
- Weeds
- Small branches
- Leaves
- Prunings
No thanks
- Soil, concrete, rubble
- Vegetable peelings
- Food scraps
- Coal, ash
- Animal waste
- Commercial waste
- General household waste
Other materials
Other materials can't be collected from your homes by us, but you may be able to find somewhere else to take it. Visit Hampshire County Council's waste finder to see if an item can be recycled locally.