Let's get recycling right. Check which bin to use for your specific items.

On this page you will find information about your green recycling bin. Recycling is collected every 2 weeks. Find out your next recycling collection day.

What can go in my green recycling bin?

Only place the following in your recycling bin/box:

Everything must be:

  • Clean (no food stains, grease, dirt on…)
  • Dry (no wet item or items with liquids in)
  • Loose (don’t bag them, and don’t put items inside each other)

What else can I recycle from home and around Portsmouth?

Visit the following pages to find out how you can recycle more from your doorstep and around the city.

From home

Around Portsmouth

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.

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:

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

How to put your bin out

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

If your recycling bin wasn't emptied this week

If your recycling bin has been replaced with a smaller bin or box

Before your green wheelie bin was replaced with a smaller bin or box, you would have received a warning letter through your letterbox to explain bins are only allowed on the pavement on the day of collection and the evening before, after 7pm.

What happens now:

Please note, we will not replace your current container for a bigger one.

You can use your new recycling container(s) straight away and hope you find the smaller container will be more practical to take off the pavement at the end of your collection day. If you feel it is still too big, you can go online to request we replace your container with a smaller one (Request a recycling bin)

If you can’t fit all your recycling in your new container, you can:

  • Place additional recyclable items in a cardboard box (not in bags) next to your recycling container on collection day; or
  • Order a recycling box on our website to use alongside your recycling bin.