What can I recycle?

• Paper
• Envelopes (plain and with windows)
• Newspapers and magazines
• Leaflets and junk mail
• Catalogues and directories
• Paper bags (without fabric handles)
• Wrapping paper (without glitter or foil)
• Diaries and calendars (paper pages only, hardback covers should go in the bin)
• Books (paper pages only, hardback covers should go in the bin)

• Corrugated cardboard boxes and packaging
• Kitchen and toilet roll tubes
• Cardboard food packaging such as cereal boxes and ready meal sleeves
• Greetings cards (without foil, glitter, decorations, or battery powered music and lights)
• Drink and food cartons, for example Tetra Pak

• Glass bottles
• Glass food and beauty jars
• Perfume bottles

• Tins and cans
• Chocolate and biscuit tins
• Kitchen foil including yoghurt lids and chocolate wrapping – please scrunch together into a ball
• Foil food and takeaway trays and pie cases

• Plastic bottles and lids
• Single-use plastic pots, tubs, trays, punnets, and containers
• Plastic takeaway containers.

• Rinse - please make sure all items that have contained food or drink are clean and dry. 

If you have orange bags: 

• Fill up your bags - you can use as many orange bags as you need for your recycling
• Tie your bags - securely tie the top of the bags, as this helps to reduce litter
• Collection - put your bags out next to your black bin on your collection day.
• Large card - flatten large cardboard boxes and place underneath orange bags.

What if I have a communal bin?

Place recycling loose into bins or use transparent carrier bags/bin liners. Orange bags are not issued to residents with communal bins.

• Polystyrene or styrofoam
• Nappies
• Tissues and kitchen roll
• Crisp packets, sweet wrappers, or mixed material food pouches
• Toothpaste tubes
• Hard plastics such as Tupperware, CD and DVD cases, coat hangers and plant pots.
• Mixed materials such as Jiffy bags and laminated paper
• CDs/DVDs and video tapes
• Plastic or foil wrapping paper
• Bubble wrap
• String/cord
• Balloons, streamers and banners
• Tinsel, baubles, bows, ribbons, cracker novelties.
• Wallpaper, tissue or crepe paper
• Mirrors
• Broken glass
• Drinking or decorative glasses or ceramics
• Toughened glass such as pyrex or oven dishes
• Spectacles
• Corks
• Plastic or stuffed toys
• Firework cases
• Food waste or peelings
• Pet bedding such as wood shavings, straw, or hay
• General waste such as hoover contents or cigarette ends

Please remember that if your items are too large for you to dispose of, for example large furniture or mattresses, you may be able to dispose of them for free through our bulky waste service. If items are still in good working order please consider other options such as donating them to our reuse shop.

• Batteries including all household, lithium (hazardous), and car batteries (hazardous)
• Saucepans, frying pans, baking trays, knives, and other metal items
• Paint (hazardous), paint tins and pots
• Energy saving lightbulbs and fluorescent tubes (hazardous)
• Wood
• Clothing and footwear
• Linen, towels and other textiles
• Building waste, rubble, bricks, tiles and soil
• Garden waste, such as larger branches, hedge cuttings, real Christmas trees and turf
• Electrical and electronic items (hazardous) such as electric toothbrushes, toasters, kettles, hairdryers, straighteners, power tools, cables and wires (any items powered by a battery or that has a plug)
• Hard plastic items such as children’s toys and storage boxes
• Cooking oil
• Engine Oil
• Asbestos (hazardous)
• Chemicals and bottles previously containing chemicals (hazardous)

Clothing, shoes and textiles cannot be recycled in orange bags or recycling bins. They can be donated or recycled at our reuse shop or placed in one of the textile recycling banks across Leicester. For more ideas of what you can do with your unwanted clothing see our reduce and reuse page.

There are a number of recycling banks across Leicester, where you can recycle items such as:

• Cardboard, paper
• Mixed glass bottles and jars
• Clothes, shoes and textiles (fabrics)

Find my nearest recycling bank.