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

We've put together a  Recycling guide [1Mb] to help you recycle as much as you can.

Items you can recycle

• All rinsed cans and tins
• All rinsed plastic bottles (no tops, please)
• 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.

Recycling dos and don'ts

• Break down large boxes
• Rinse cans, tins and plastic bottles
• Put the items loose in your blue bin - no bags

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

Extra recycling

If you have extra recycling, you can order free clear recycling sacks from our Customer Services team using the contact details on this page. Fill the sacks and put them out next to your blue bin for collection.

You can also take bulky items of recycling to the household waste recycling centres .

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 from our Customer Services team.

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!