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What goes in my bins?

Find out what to put in your:

What goes in my recycling bin?

Items placed inside your recycling bin must be empty (no contents, or bits of food or drink left inside).

They should also be clean and dry.

Leave the items loose inside the bin. Do not bag items that you place inside your recycling bin. 

Only put these items in your recycling bin:

  • Aerosol cans, such as air fresheners and deodorants
  • Aluminium foil and trays (please roll foil into a ball)
  • Cardboard, including boxes, food packaging and cards
  • Metal food and drink cans
  • Paper, newspapers, magazines and junk mail
  • Paperback and hardback books
  • Plastic bathroom and household cleaning products (please keep tops on)
  • Plastic bottles (please squash and keep lids on)
  • Plastic yoghurt pots, tubs and food trays

If an item is not listed above, please keep it out of the recycling bin.

Items that should never go in your recycling bin include:

  • Batteries
  • Black sacks, plastic bags, plastic film/cellophane and wrappers
  • Bubble wrap
  • Cardboard tubes with metal bases, such as Pringles, gravy and hot chocolate packaging
  • Cartons, such as Tetra Pak
  • Clinical and medical waste, including needles
  • Clothes and bedding
  • Crisp packets
  • DIY waste, building materials, hardcore, rubble or soil
  • Electrical items
  • Face masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  • Food
  • Garden waste
  • Glass
  • Greeting cards and wrapping paper that have glitter, foil or embellishments on
  • Hard plastics, such as toys, plant pots and coat hangers
  • Hazardous waste
  • Items smaller than 5cm, such as loose bottle tops
  • Metal pots, pans and trays
  • Nappies
  • Pet food pouches
  • Pill packs
  • Polystyrene packaging
  • Shredded paper
  • Textiles and fabrics
  • Tissues, kitchen roll and wipes
  • Wood

If a bin contains unacceptable items, it will not be emptied.

Find out more about recycling and how it works

Download the Suffolk Recycles 'Together we can get our recycling right' leaflet

Find your nearest recycling bring bank where you can take items such as glass, textiles and clothing.

What happens to my recycling?

Recycling is taken to the Materials Recycling Facility in Great Blakenham.

At the facility, the recycling is separated, baled and sent to reprocessing companies, where it can be made into new products.

What goes in my refuse bin?

You should use your refuse (general rubbish) bin for the majority of waste that can't go into your recycling bin.

If you are unsure if an item can be placed into the refuse bin, please check the waste A to Z.

Ash, dust, shredded paper and other loose materials must be wrapped, or bagged and tied, before being put into the refuse bin.

Access the links below to learn about alternative ways to dispose of waste that you cannot put in your refuse bin:

If a bin contains unacceptable items, it will not be emptied.

What happens to my refuse?

We do not send refuse to landfill.

Instead, refuse is taken to the Energy from Waste Facility in Great Blakenham.

At the facility, refuse is burned at high temperatures and the heat is converted into electricity using a steam turbine.

What goes in my garden waste (brown) bin?

Only put these items in your garden waste bin:

  • Dead plants
  • Flowers
  • Grass cuttings
  • Hedge trimmings
  • Leaves
  • Shrubs
  • Small branches and twigs no thicker than 7cm
  • Tree prunings
  • Weeds (apart from noxious ones)
  • Windfall fruit (small quantities only)

If an item is not listed above, please keep it out of the garden waste bin.

Items that should never go in your garden waste bin include:

  • Animal waste
  • Ash
  • Bags and sacks, including those labelled as compostable
  • Branches and twigs thicker than 7cm
  • Clothes and textiles
  • Compostable packaging
  • Flowerpots and trays
  • Food
  • Hardcore and rubble
  • Kitchen peelings and waste
  • Meat, poultry and fish
  • Nappies
  • Noxious weeds (for example, Japanese knotweed, ragwort, spear thistle, creeping thistle, giant hogweed, curled dock, broad leaved dock and horsetail)
  • Paper, card and shredded paper
  • Pet bedding
  • Plastics of any kind
  • Soil
  • Stones and gravel
  • Tea bags and coffee grounds
  • Turf
  • Wood and timber

If a bin contains unacceptable items, it will not be emptied.

What happens to my garden waste?

Garden waste collected via our dedicated collection vehicles is taken to the Material Change Facility at Creeting St Mary to be turned into compost.