Recycling

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Information about changes to council services as a result of coronavirus

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Find out what items you can recycle at home

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Recycling is collected every 2 weeks. Find out your next recycling collection day.
On collection day, your recycling should be out before 7am. It will be collected before 4pm. Your recycling container should be put at the edge of your property, where it meets the pavement.
Put recyclables clean, dry and loose in your bin. Don't bag them.
If you live in a block of flats, you can put your recyclables in your communal recycling bin.
If you need a new or extra recycling bin, you can request one online
There have been access changes to some of the Household Waste and Recycling Centres in Hampshire - find out more information in our news article.
Knowing what to recycle or not can be confusing. You can find answers to these common questions on our dedicated recycling mythbusters page to help you carry on recycling.

What can I put in my recycling bin?

Paper
Cardboard
Plastic bottles (please rinse)
Food and drink cans/tins (please rinse)
Aerosol cans
Small electrical items (such as hairdryers, toasters etc.) can also be put out alongside your normal recycling collection.

Remove any glass, such as lightbulbs
Put items in a normal sized carrier bag
Place on top of the lid of your recycling bin or box on collection day.

What can't I put in my recycling bin?

Plastic packaging such as food trays, yoghurt pots or margarine tubs
Cartons such as juice or soya milk cartons
Glass - find your nearest glass recycling bank here. See below about disposing of lightbulbs.
Carrier bags
Aluminium foil
Polystyrene
Clothes - you can take these to your local textile recycling bank.
Lightbulbs. Energy efficient light bulbs and fluorescent tubes can be recycled at the Household Waste and Recycling Centre. Halogen lightbulbs should be disposed of in the black bin/bags - please ensure these are placed safely in a plastic container or wrapped up in newspaper. Please do not place lightbulbs in the glass banks.

Find more recycling banks near you

What if I can't put my recycling out?

If you have a medical condition that prevents you from putting your recycling out please contact us to request an assisted collection.

Complete the online form to request an assisted collection
Email recyclingandrubbish@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Telephone 023 9284 1105

Where it goes and what happens to it

The recycling lorry takes the waste to the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). Inside the MRF, the waste is emptied and sorted into the different types of material. These sorted materials are then sent to factories to turn the old waste into new items:

Drink cans - more drink cans, foil, window frames
Plastic bottles - fleece jumpers, garden furniture, sleeping bag filling
Paper - new paper, newspapers
Steel - paper clips, washing machines, cutlery
Cardboard - toilet rolls, egg boxes

For more information, visit Hampshire County Council's 'What happens to recycling' page

You can order a new/extra green bin for recycling using our online form.

Great British Spring Clean: Free kerbside clothes collection

The Great British Spring Clean is being postponed to direct resources to more essential services in relation to the coronavirus.

If you have already sorted your clothes using the materials we sent to you in your council tax bill, please hang on to them until restrictions on movement have been lifted and textile banks have been re-opened.

We will provide information about the new dates as soon as we are able to.

How to put your bin out

For details on how to put your recycling bin out for collection please read the guidelines.

Documents

What to put in your recycling container

What to recycle and where to put it