Using your rubbish bin

What can go in your bin…

• Tetrapaks – save space and squash em!
• Microwave meal containers – save space and squash em!
• Toothpaste tubes
• Crisp packets
• Disposable nappies – why not try using real nappies?
• Meat, fish, and cooked food waste
• Vacuum cleaner dust
• Re-used envelopes

Visit our real nappies page for more info on washable real nappies.

Wheelie good bin behaviour

• Wrap up your food waste and nappies before binning them to prevent smells
• Food waste wrapped in newspaper will smell less
• Do not put any bags of rubbish outside a closed wheelie bin
• Recyclables or compostables should not go in your rubbish bin
• Bin lids must be closed for collection, as the lifting machinery can damage them if the lid is open, and it helps to contain smells
• Please don’t line your bin. By putting a bin liner in your bin you will break the seal on the lid so flies or maggots can enter
• Rinse anything that is not recyclable before binning it
• Put your bin out at the usual collection point by 7am on the day of collection

Why we won’t collect extra bags of rubbish…

Extra bags won’t be collected as wheelie bins were introduced to combat the health and safety hazards of the refuse team handling large numbers of bin bags, not knowing what is inside them or how heavy they are. Bins are designed to hold two weeks worth of household rubbish in and keep flies and vermin out.

If you’ve recycled everything but still have extra bags…

If you have recycled all you can and cannot fit everything in your bin, put potentially smelly rubbish in your bin first so it will be collected, that way you can keep back a bag or two of polystyrene or microwave meal containers as two examples of non-perishables, for the next time your bin is collected.

You can home compost…

• Tea bags
• Fruit
• Uncooked vegetables
• Hair
• Small amounts of cardboard
• Egg shells
• Garden waste

Would you like to order a home compost bin?

Do you follow the three R’s too for more bin saving tips? Remember to reduce, re-use and recycle.

Requesting a different size bin…

If you do not have enough storage space for a bin you could request a 140L bin instead, which is just over half the size of the normal 240L household refuse bin.

Or, if there are special reasons why you produce more waste than the average family, because you have 6 or more people living in your house or because someone in your house has a medical condition, you may be entitled to a larger 360L bin. Please call the council contact centre on 01633 656656 for details.

Asking for help to move your bin

If there is a physical reason why you cannot put your bin out for collection at the kerbside, the refuse collectors may be able to arrange an assisted lift for you, where they collect the bin from closer to your door. Please call the council contact centre on 01633 656656 for details.

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