You could unwittingly be annoying your binmen by making these six mistakes with your recycling box – so here’s everything you need to know about the common errors
Sorting out your recycling can seem like a chore, but it’s seriously important. That’s because failing to separate items correctly can be bad for the environment.
Different materials (like paper, glass, plastic, and metal) require different recycling processes. When they are sorted correctly, recycling facilities can process them more efficiently and effectively.
Mixing materials often contaminates entire batches of recyclables. For example, food residue or broken glass can spoil paper or plastic recycling, making it unusable and causing it to end up in a landfill instead.
Thankfully, refuse collectors are on hand to share their helpful advice too. Ashley, known as The No1 Binman, has amassed thousands of followers by posting his top tips on TikTok.
According to Ashley, binmen can decline to collect your rubbish if particular items are found in the incorrect bins, and these include the following six items…
1. Pizza boxes
He said: “Pizza boxes should not be in the recycling bin. They should be in your general waste bin, whatever colour that will be. You are told to put all cardboard in the blue bin. I don’t know what your blue bin is, I don’t know.
“Let’s just make this clear, pizza boxes – general waste bin, not recycling bin. That’s all I needed to say. It doesn’t matter what colour your bin is, it goes in your general waste.”
While some pizza boxes can be recycled, this should only be done if they’re clean and dry. To handle this correctly, you must remove and dispose of any greasy food remnants or stained sections, particularly the base.
If the item is excessively soiled, it should go into the general waste bin or be used for composting. The clean cardboard lid, however, can go in the paper and card recycling bin.
2. Lightbulbs
Speaking about this common household item, Ashley said: “They don’t belong in your bin – they don’t belong in your recycling, they don’t belong in your general waste.
“You’re meant to take them to a specialist place where you can dispose of them correctly.”
While you may think it’s a faff to bin lightbulbs separately, there’s actually some pretty convenient places you can drop them off.
Ashley added: “You can do it at most tips, B&Q, Tesco. When you go to replace them, take them with you!”
3. Wrapping paper
This one is a bit trickier. Ashley said: “It depends on the wrapping paper. So if you have actual wrapping paper paper, what you should be able to do with it is screw it into a ball – and if it stays in the ball, it’s just paper, and that can go in your paper recycling bin.
“If it’s got lots of Sellotape or labels all over it, then take them off and then just put it in the paper bin. Save some room in your general waste.
“But if you screw into a ball and it starts expanding back out again, that’s got mainly plastic in it, and that should not go in your paper bin. It’s not paper, it’s mainly plastic, and it’s got a film over it – that one would go in your general waste.”
Even though local councils can have differing regulations, he uses the scrunch test as a general rule of thumb. Ashley added: “If it expands, it’s plastic – if it stays as it is, it’s paper.”
It only takes two seconds to scrunch the wrapping to see if it’s suitable for recycling, so be sure to do it before chucking it away.
3. Chewing gum
Chewed gum should never be thrown into the food waste bin because it doesn’t biodegrade. What’s more, you should be mindful about where you put the wrapping too.
Speaking directly to the camera, Ashley said: “What about chewing gum? Good question. Right, this one, it goes in your general waste, if you’re chewing it, finished with it; it goes in the general waste bin.
“It is not biodegradable – that’s why you do not put it in your food waste or your compost bin. It goes in your general waste because it can’t break down and go into the soil or whatever they make the food waste into…
“The wrapper for chewing gum, another good one, which would be, because it’s a combination of paper and aluminium. Because of the combination, it doesn’t go in either the recycling bin. It would have to go in your general waste bin.”
4. Crisp packets
The No1 Binman shared: “Crisp packets do not belong in your recycling bin. You’re meant to take them to the supermarket and recycle them there, because it’s a different type of plastic.
“Just like carrier bags, just like film, bubble wrap – all that stuff does not go in your recycling. Take it to the tip, they can sometimes dispose of it there differently, or take it to a supermarket.
“There’s loads of stuff. Polystyrene is plastic, but it doesn’t go in your recycling bin because it takes up too much room, and it costs too much money to recycle because there’s barely any plastic in it. It’s mainly air.
“Please check before you put it in your bin. Normally, it’s like tins and bottles. Easy things to put in the recycling. Please check before you do it because you don’t want your bin to be contaminated. Don’t be the person who gets their bin rejected when you want it to be emptied.”
5. Condoms
Ashley shared that condoms should always be placed in the general waste bin. Never even attempt to recycle them at any time.
This is because they are made from materials like latex, polyurethane, or polyisoprene, which are not compatible with standard recycling processes. These materials do not break down in recycling facilities and can actually damage recycling equipment.
Additionally, condoms are considered single-use personal hygiene products, which means they may contain bodily fluids and are classified as medical waste.
This makes them unsuitable for recycling due to health and safety concerns. For these reasons, condoms should be disposed of in the regular trash rather than being placed in recycling bins.
