What to put in your blue recycling bin

Here is a list of all the materials that can go into your blue wheeled bin for recycling.

What you can and can't put in your blue recycling bin

Items you can recycle

• All rinsed cans and tins
• All rinsed plastic bottles
• Cardboard
• Birthday or Christmas cards (without foil or glitter)
• Newspapers, magazines and Yellow Pages
• Household paper and envelopes (including those with cellophane windows)
• Aerosols

Items you can't recycle

We cannot collect the following items because they can spoil the rest of the load:

• Black sacks, carrier bags and other plastic packaging
• Shredded paper
• Wrapping paper
• Cardboard juice cartons
• Aluminium foil
• Mixed plastics such as yoghurt pots, margarine and ice cream tubs, and cling film
• Textiles and clothing. Please see our bottle banks and recycling points page
• Any household or garden waste
• Glass - put in your glass recycling box, basket or bin. Please see our glass recycling page for more information
• Polystyrene
• Kitchen waste. Please see our composting page for more information.

The items above are a summary of the types of items you can or cannot recycle. Please see our Rubbish and recycling A to Z web pages for more information.

Blue bin recycling tips

• Break down cardboard boxes and squash them as flat as possible
• Rinse cans, tins and plastic bottles - again squash them down as much as possible
• Put the items loose in your blue bin - no bags

Recycling tips during the coronavirus outbreak

to help you get the best out of recycling during the coronavirus outbreak, we have put together some tips. You can find these on our Recycling tips during the coronavirus outbreak page.

Extra recycling

If you have extra recycling, you can order free clear recycling sacks by filling in our request recycling sacks form.

Once you have these sacks, please fill them up and put them out next to your blue bin for collection.

Check your recycling collection day

To check your collection day, use our In my area feature.

Recycling bin sizes

There are three different sizes of recycling bin, so if you regularly have extra recycling and feel that your bin is not big enough, you can order a larger one for free if you complete our order a larger recycling bin or a glass collection box form below.

What happens to your recycling

Have you ever wondered what happens to your recycling?  Recycle for Hampshire have produced a short video explaining what happens to your tins, cans, aerosols, paper, magazines, cardboard and plastic bottles.  Keep up the good work!