Recycling

To find out when your recycling is collected, enter your postcode into the collection day search, choose your address and click on the 'Recycle' tab. 

You will be presented with a day for collection, and most residents will also be shown whether their collection is scheduled for week one or week two, along with upcoming collection dates and any planned seasonal changes.

Recycling containers

• Please store containers on your property (not on the public highway or pavements).
• Please move your recycling container to the boundary of your property for collection no earlier than 7pm the night before collection, and no later than 7am on the day of collection.
• Recycling containers remain the property of Portsmouth City Council.

What to put in your recycling container

For more information, see the document at the bottom of the page. If the wrong materials are put in your container, it may not be emptied.

• Drinks cans
• Plastic bottles (but please don’t include the lids)
• Paper such as newspapers, magazines, envelopes, junk mail
• Food tins
• Cardboard, such as cereal boxes and greetings cards (please break down larger boxes)
  
  

Follow the links to check what you can put in your recycling container or for information on recycling labels.

All the paper, card, cans and plastic bottles that we collect are taken to the materials recovery facility in Copnor - more information can be found on the website of our waste disposal contractor, Veolia.

Visit Hampshire County Council's waste disposal page to find out which materials need to be taken to your local household waste and recycling centre, and what to do with materials we cannot accept.

As well as Portsmouth household waste and recycling centre, there are over 100 conveniently-placed recycling points around the city where you can recycle items that cannot be collected for recycling from your home.

Items include glass of any colour, clothes, textiles and shoes, books, DVDs, videos, CDs and tapes - visit Recycle Now's recycling locator for recycling point locations across Portsmouth.

Tips for use:

• only use the glass banks between 8am and 8pm
• take your bags and boxes home with you after emptying
• if the bank is full please don’t leave items on the pavement - take your items home and try again later or use another bank
• to report a collection bank being full (or vandalised), contact the City Helpdesk on 023 9283 4092.

Portsmouth household waste and recycling centre (HWRC)

The centre at Port Solent is very popular and often gets busy, especially on nice sunny weekends and bank holidays. To save waiting, try to visit during the week, or at the beginning or end of the day.

Charges now apply across all household waste recycling centres in Hampshire for some waste types not classified as household waste.

Chargeable materials include soil, rubble, stonework, clay, bricks, concrete blocks, paving slabs, tiles, ceramic bathroom units, plasterboard and cement-bonded asbestos sheets. There is no charge for crockery or clay flowerpots.

• Soil and rubble - £2.50 per bag
• Ceramic bathroom units/sanitary ware (e.g. sinks, pedestals, toilets, cisterns and shower trays) charged at £2.50 per item.
• Plasterboard - £10 per sheet/£6 bag up to a maximum sheet size of 3000mm x 1200 mm
• Asbestos - £12 per sheet/bag up to a maximum sheet size of 1200mm x 600mm (phone  023 9238 7015 to book asbestos disposal at Port Solent HWRC)
  
  

A bag is defined as a standard rubble sack, which can be purchased at most DIY stores, up to a maximum dimension of 535mm x 820mm (when laid flat), and filled so that the waste is contained and can safely be lifted.

Part filled bags will be charged as a full bag.  

For customers who have broken down their load into smaller loads (eg, half bags) for ease of carrying, loose loads or loads in different containers/bags, the total number of ‘standard rubble sack’ units or sheets will be estimated as above.

Oversized ceramic/sanitary items such as double bowl sinks, draining boards and large shower trays may be subject to an additional charge.

Part sheets of plasterboard and asbestos will be charged as full sheets. Larger sheets than the maximum dimensions described above will incur a higher charge. For example a sheet up to twice the dimensions described above will cost £20 for plasterboard and £24 for asbestos.

The manager's decision is final.

Additional information:

Plasterboard

Visitors wishing to dispose of plasterboard, plaster or gypsum-based products mixed with other waste types must separate them prior to visiting the HWRC so they can be disposed of separately. The removal of tiles from plasterboard may be made easier if the waste plasterboard has been soaked in water.

Asbestos

All whole sheets should be double wrapped securely in plastic sheeting and transported whole. Small or broken pieces should be double bagged and securely sealed. Avoid breaking the material where possible. You must phone the HWRC in advance to pre-book acceptance or you may not be able to deposit your cement bonded asbestos. No other type of asbestos is accepted.

Visit the Portsmouth HWRC page to find out what items are accepted, or to check if your vehicle needs a permit to use the site. The recycling centre opening times are:

• April - September, 9am - 6pm
• October - February, 9am - 4pm
• March - 9am - 5pm

Please leave yourself enough time to arrive and unload your waste before the site is due to close, particularly if you have a significant amount to dispose of. The site is managed for the council by Veolia Environmental Services.

Trade waste

Small and medium sized businesses with a waste carriers licence can now take trade/commercial waste to HWRCs. Follow the link to find out what trade materials are accepted, costs and other information on Hampshire County Council's site.

If you have items that are in good condition and could be reused by someone else, consider selling them at a car boot sale, or giving them away to charity.

Local charity shops accept donations of items in good condition, such as clothes, appliances, furniture and bric-a-brac.

Or you can give away - and receive - items for free on re-use network websites such as Freecycle, Freegle, Reuze and Ecobee.

For more information on reducing, reusing and recycling please see the table below, refer to the handy locator on Hantsweb or look further down the page for recycling points around Portsmouth:

Reduce

• smarter shopping
• Love Food, Hate Waste
• stop junk mail
• use cloth nappies
• avoid disposable items, such as cameras, razors, paper towels
• use a milk delivery service
  
  

Reuse

• share tools with family and friends
• use bags for life
• reuse glass jars and containers
• buy items that include recycled material
• repair materials, rather than throw them away - check to see if they can be repaired cheaply and easily
  
  

Recycle

• Compost green waste
• furniture, computers, and mobile phones can all be recycled
• check what to do with your waste and recycling
• Portsmouth household waste and recycling centre