You can put a lot of recycling items in your green top black bins which are collected fortnightly.
If you have additional items you would like to recycle, that we do not currently collect, the recycling locator will help you find your nearest drop-off point.
Yes please - plain wrapping paper (not laminated), newspapers, magazines, junk mail, computer paper, envelopes (including windowed envelopes), catalogues and directories, paper bags.
No thanks - shredded paper, gift wrap, plastic-coated (laminated) paper, paper towels, tissues and napkins, wallpaper.
Yes please - plain Christmas cards (not laminated), cereal packets, food boxes, greetings cards, kitchen and toilet roll holders, corrugated card.
No thanks - any plastic or foam packaging left inside cardboard boxes (please dispose of this in your black bin), pizza boxes (due to food debris).
Yes please - 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), spray bottles with the spray gun left on, plastic bottle tops.
No thanks - bottles containing liquid, pump dispensers on top of plastic bottles.
Yes please - food tins including pet food tins, drinks cans, sweet and biscuit tins.
No thanks - paint tins, partially full food/pet food tins or dirty tins, other metals or metal packaging.
Yes please - food e.g. cream and oil, deodorant, hairspray.
No thanks - lids, full or partially full aerosols.
Don't forget your recycling needs to be clean, dry and loose to be of use! This means that the materials is less likely to be contaminated and can be easily sorted.
It is important that the right materials are placed in the container to avoid contamination/spoiling the quality of the other good recyclable material.
Your local recycling centre can also receive:
Although you can not put glass into your recycling bin at home, you can take it to one of the borough's glass recycling banks. Find your nearest glass recycling site.
Plastic pots (e.g. yoghurt pots, non-black plant pots), tubs (e.g. margarine and ice cream tubs, biscuit tubs), and trays (e.g. meat trays, fruit & veg punnets), can now be taken to plastic recycling bins around the borough. Find your nearest plastic recycling site.
The following items cannot be put into the plastic recycling bins: black plastics, plastic films, plastic wrappers, carrier bags, polystyrene, household waste, litter.
Soft plastics - such as plastic films, plastic bags and wrapping - can be recycled at most supermarkets. Check your local supermarket.
Currently our Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Portsmouth cannot recycle hard plastics. This means items such as tubs, pots, trays, and similar materials cannot be processed through the normal mixed recycling system.
To ensure these plastics are recycled rather than sent to waste, they are collected separately through Biffa and sent directly to one of their specialists re‑processing facilities in the UK.
A new, modern MRF is currently being built, and once operational, it will be able to process a much wider range of plastics locally. This will significantly reduce the need for the soft plastics to be added to your general waste bin or for separate drop‑off points, making recycling easier for households across the area.
All of the recyclable materials from Hampshire's kerbside collections (cans, plastic bottles, paper, card, tins and empty aerosols) are sent to one of two Material Recovery Facilities in the county, in Portsmouth and Alton. Find out more about where your recycling goes on the Hampshire County Council website.