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Recycling with Gloucester City Council

The guidance on this page is for recycling plastic at home only. For all other materials visit Bins and recycling - Gloucester City Council

Know your plastics

Should I be washing and squashing my plastics? Yes, please wash and squash your plastics (where possible) as it saves space in your recycling container
Can I recycle black plastic packaging  Not recyclable at kerbside, please put in your non recycling bin
Can I recycle plastic film including bread bags and crisp packets Not recyclable at kerbside, please put in your non recycling bin You may be able to recycle them at your local supermarket. Check if your local store recycles bags.
Should I leave on or remove lids? Leave plastic on and they will be recycled (remove them when the lid is a different material to the container like aerosols)
Should I leave on or remove trigger sprays (like on cleaning sprays) Leave them on and they will be recycled

When?

Fortnightly: recycling box collection (2 boxes) for glass jars and bottles, food/drink cans, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, empty aerosols, foil and cartons.

What do we want?

Plastic bottles

  • Clear/coloured plastic bottles
  • Detergent bottles
  • Hand soap bottles (without pump)
  • Cleaning product bottles (e.g. bleach bottles and bathroom cleaners [triggers can be left on])
  • Skin care product bottles
  • Shampoo and shower gel bottles
  • Milk bottles
  • Fizzy and non fizzy drinks and water bottles

Plastic packaging

  • Pots, e.g. yoghurt, soup
  • Tubs, e.g. margarine, ice cream
  • Trays or punnets, e.g. raw or cooked meat trays; take away trays, fruit and veg trays
  • Chocolate and biscuit tubs and trays
  • Other clear plastic packaging

What don't we want?

  • Crips packets
  • Pre-prepared salad bags
  • Film lids from pots or trays
  • Black plastic
  • Medicine packs e.g. headache pills
  • Plastic film/wrappers/bags*
  • Pet food pouches
  • Soap bottle pumps
  • Paint pots
  • Plastic toys
  • Plastic plant pots
  • Bubble wrap
  • Plastic bottles containing chemicals e.g. anti-freeze
  • Polystyrene packaging

* Plastic bags cannot be recycled through the kerbside recycling collection services. However, some local supermarkets have recycling collection points in store: check if your local store recycles bags.

Can't recycle an item? Find out where you can take your items to be recycled.

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