Recycling: Green boxes and blue bag

You should have two green boxes and a blue bag to put your recycling in.

Your recycling is collected every week. Please make sure your recycling is out at the kerbside by 7am on the day of collection.

You can download and keep a guide to our recycling service

Plastic and tins: green box one

In one green box you can recycle:

• plastic bottles (includes any plastic container which is bottle shaped, including: milk bottles, fizzy drink and squash bottles, shampoo and conditioner bottles, empty bleach bottles, detergent bottles. Please remove triggers)
• tins and cans
• metal biscuit and sweet tins
• metal lids
• empty aerosols
• aluminium foil or containers (must be clean)

We cannot collect and recycle the following:

• plastic pots, tubs, punnets and trays
• cat food pouches
• cartons (such as Tetra Pak)
• plastic film and plastic bags

Why we do not collect mixed plastics

Our reasons for not collecting mixed plastics (including food trays, punnets, tubs and pots) are:

• lack of market for mixed plastics
• limited space at the recycling depot where the materials are tipped and stored before going on to be recycled 
• costs of transporting and sorting plastics

In the Forest of Dean, the collection vehicles need to be narrow to allow access to the lanes in our mainly rural district. This limits the vehicle capacity and means that we need more vehicles compared to an urban area for the same number of households. Increasing our capacity would cost more.

In total there are over 50 different types of plastic. To recycle them effectively they are sorted back into types at a Material Recovery Facility (MRF). There is no local MRF so collecting more types of plastics would increase the environmental impact and cost of transport and sorting.

If we collect mixed plastics then we cannot guarantee there will be a market for them.

We only collect plastic bottles because there is a demand for this type of plastic for reuse.  We can be confident that they are being recycled.

Any expansion of the service will require investment in infrastructure, vehicles and crews. 

Glass and textiles: green box two

In your second green box you can recycle glass bottle and jars but remove the lids first, put lids in your box for tins and cans.

Please do not recycle broken glass, glasses and tumblers, sheet glass, light bulbs or fluorescent tubes. Old-style incandescent light bulbs can go in your general waste bin, everything else should be taken to a recycling centre.

Put any textiles in a tied carrier bag to keep them dry and separate from the glass. The bag must fit easily in the green box. We can collect:

• Clothing and paired shoes
• Hats, gloves, belts, scarves
• Handbags

We are not able to collect carpets, rugs, bedding, wet textiles, curtains.

Paper and card: blue bag

Paper and card must be inside the bag to be collected. You can recycle:

• newspapers and magazines
• telephone directories and catalogues
• paper and envelopes
• junk mail and leaflets, but remove the plastic wrapping
• flattened brown corrugated cardboard
• grey card for example cereal boxes
• white or coloured card
• plain greetings cards with no foil, glitter or ribbons
• plain wrapping paper with the tape removed

We cannot collect

• cartons, for example Tetra Pak
• Plastic film or wrappers
• polystyrene

Small electrical items and batteries

We collect small electrical and electronic appliances, including disposable vapes, and household batteries every two weeks. 

Bag your items (using an old carrier or a bag of similar size or smaller) and place them on the lid of your general waste bin on your collection day.

We can collect anything small that has a plug, batteries or needs charging. Batteries we will collect include AA, AAA, C, D, 9v, button batteries, mobile and laptop batteries.

We cannot collect TVs and monitors, car and motorbike batteries, large appliances such as vacuum cleaners and microwaves.

Why we do not collect mixed plastics

Mixed plastics include food trays, punnets, tubs and pots. We are only able to recycle plastic bottles, our reasons for this are:

• lack of market for mixed plastics
• limited space at the recycling depot where the materials are tipped and stored before going on to be recycled 
• costs of transporting and sorting plastics

In the Forest of Dean, the collection vehicles need to be narrow to allow access to the lanes in our mainly rural district. This limits the vehicle capacity and means that we need more vehicles compared to an urban area for the same number of households. Increasing our capacity would cost more.

In total there are over 50 different types of plastic. To recycle them effectively they are sorted back into types at a Material Recovery Facility (MRF).  There is no local MRF so collecting more types of plastics would increase the environmental impact and cost of transport and sorting.

If we collect mixed plastics then we cannot guarantee there will be a market for them.

We collect type 1 (PET) and type 2 (HDPE) plastic bottles because there is a demand for this type of plastic for reuse.  We can be confident that they are being recycled.

Any expansion of the service will require investment in infrastructure, vehicles and crews.  

 

Related Pages

• What happens to your recycling
• Recycling banks and centres
• Get help with your collection
• Getting rid of large items
• Reduce and reuse your waste