What can I put in my recycling bin?

Find out what items you can put in your recycling 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. 

We only want these items in your recycling bin. Items should be:

  • Clean
  • Empty
  • Dry.

Together we can get our recycling right.

Items you can put in your recycling bin


What can't I put in my recycling bin?

Please never put these items in your recycling bin.

They will spoil the recycling and your bin will not be emptied.

Why should I recycle?

Recycling helps the environment by reducing carbon emissions. It also reduces the need for new products to be made from raw materials.

It’s important to put the right items into your recycling bin. Currently around 10,000 tonnes (about 20%) of the items we collect in Suffolk is rejected due to the wrong items being placed in the recycling bins.

Why is this a problem?

  1. Quality is key - Companies that use your recyclables to make new products will not accept spoiled items.
  2. It’s wasteful - Putting the wrong items into your recycling bin also means that good items will become ‘spoiled’ and won’t get recycled.
  3. It’s expensive - Cleaning up spoiled items costs Suffolk’s taxpayers over £1,000,000 a year.
  4. It could be dangerous - Spoiled items are unpleasant and dangerous for staff at Suffolk’s Recycling Facility to remove. This often has to be done by hand.

Thank you for helping, it really makes a big difference!

FAQs