What can I put in my general rubbish bin?

Find out which items you can put in your general rubbish bin.

Your local district council is responsible for waste collection. For any queries relating to missed bins or other issues, please contact your local district council.

You should use your rubbish bin for anything that doesn't go in your household recycling or composting bins.

What can't go in your general rubbish bin?

Batteries and electrical items

Batteries and electrical items (especially large electricals) must not be thrown away in any of your household wheelie bins. This is because they can cause dangerous fires in collection vehicles and at waste facilities. 

Electricals contain hazardous materials and precious metals and should be recycled properly.

Batteries can be recycled at most large stores where they are sold. 

Electrical items can be recycled at our recycling centres and some bring banks. 

Hazardous waste

Liquid paint, asbestos and hazardous waste also should not be placed in your rubbish bin.

Large non-recyclable items

If a large item cannot be reused or recycled it can be taken to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and placed in the non-recyclable container. If you cannot get the item to a Recycling Centre, your local district or borough council offers a charged bulky waste collection service.

There are restrictions on some non-recyclable items at the Recycling Centres, so please check before taking items to a site.

Business waste

Any waste from a trade or business source should be collected separately.

Where your general rubbish goes

Waste from your general rubbish bin is sent to the Energy-from-waste facility at Great Blakenham, where it is burnt at high temperatures and used to generate electricity for over 40,000 homes.

Generating energy from waste for the county of Suffolk.

Questions?

If you have any questions about your wheelie bin collections (needing a bin, information on when your bin is going to be collected, missed collection etc) please contact your local waste collection authority.