Recycling

• 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.

The recycling collection crew will check the top layer of your recycling bin before emptying the bin. This is to stop too many items which cannot be recycled in Portsmouth entering the recycling stream. It is very costly to remove such items, , at the sorting facility.

If the crew see too many non-recyclable items in the bin or one large non-recyclable item, they will not empty it and leave a red hanger on the handle of the bin. This will also be recorded on the vehicle's on-board computer system.

If your recycling has been left, please check the contents of the bin. The hanger on the recycling bin or the diagrams above can help you. The most common type of non-recyclable items found in recycling bins are plastic pots, tubs, trays and carrier bags. A large non-recyclable item would be a glass bottle or black bag, for example.

Please remove any non-recyclable items from the recycling bin before your next collection. You can place extra recycling in a cardboard box alongside your bin on your next collection.

For answers to frequently asked questions about recycling in Portsmouth, check out our mythbusting page.

Sometimes, the collection crew do miss bins by accident. If this happens please call 023 9284 1105 or report a missed collection online.

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

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.

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.

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