Portsmouth City Council

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Recycling banks

Using recycling banks

When using recycling banks:

  • only use the glass banks between 8am and 8pm to reduce noise disturbance of local residents
  • take your bags and boxes home with you after emptying
  • do not leave items on the pavement if the bank is full – try again later or use another bank.

Leaving bags on the pavement outside the recycling bank is fly-tipping and you could be fined. To report a full or vandalised bank, contact us on 023 9284 1105.

Some supermarkets also provide recycling services for household items.

Types of recycling banks

Glass banks

We take:

  • glass bottles
  • glass jars

You can leave the metal lids on the bottles and jars and they will be recycled too.

We do not take:

  • Lightbulbs
  • Panes of glass
  • Mirrors
  • Drinking glasses
  • Candle glass jars
image of Mixed glass bring bank

These glass items are treated to be heat-resistant and therefore cannot be processed with glass bottles and jars. When discarding, please wrap these safely in paper and place them in your rubbish or take to the Recycling Centre at Port Solent.

What happens to recycled glass

The glass is taken to the Portsmouth Veolia facility for sorting before being sent to re-processors. For more information on how glass is recycled visit Hampshire County Council’s website.

Plastic banks

We take:

  • plastic pots (e.g. yoghurt pots, non-black plant pots)
  • plastic tubs (e.g. margarine and ice cream tubs, biscuit tubs)
  • plastic trays (e.g. meat trays, fruit and veg punnets)

We do not take:

  • black plastics
  • plastic films
  • plastic wrappers
  • carrier bags
  • polystyrene
image of Mixed plastic bring bank

What happens to recycled plastic

Instead of going to the Portsmouth Material Recovery Facility, the plastics are collected by our partner Biffa Commercial and sent to one of their re-processing facilities in the UK (Biffa Polymers). Biffa Polymers then shred, wash, and pelletise them, ready to be made back into food containers where possible and other products where not. For more information, visit Plastic Recycling | Biffa.

Textile banks

What you can recycle

The Astra textile banks (a council contractor) take any of these materials no matter how old or worn: clothes, shoes, handbags, bed linens, towels, soft toys et. Make sure they’re clean and placed in a bag before taking them to a bank.

Other textiles banks run by various charities are available in the city. Check on their bring bank if there are restrictions on what they accept.

You cannot recycle:

  • soiled clothing
  • duvets and pillows (as these block the banks)
  • off cuts
  • carpet or curtains

What happens to recycled textile

For more information visit the Astra website.

image of mixed textiles and clothes bin

Carton banks

We take:

  • food and drinks cartons
  • paper containers with metal ends (Crisps tubes type packaging)

We do not take:

  • glass, paper, card
  • plastic bottles and bags
  • cans, aerosols and foil
  • textiles

What happens to recycled carton

For more information visit the ACE UK website.

image of Cartons bring bank

Books and media banks

We take:

  • Books
  • CDs and DVDs

We do not take:

  • Newspapers
  • Catalogues
  • Phone directories

What happens to recycled books and media

The British Heart Foundation collects these items and sells them in their shops to raise funds for the charity.

image of Books and Music bin