Your Red Box is collected weekly.
Please remember Batteries CAN NOT be recycled in your red box, these can cause fires within our vehicles. Find your local Battery Recycle point here
Remember to wash, squash all of your recycling and ensure to include lids on your plastics!
Yes please!
- Plastic bottles (e.g. drinks bottles, plastic milk bottles, bleach bottles, washing and fabric conditioner bottles etc.)
- Plastic tubs, pots and trays (e.g. margarine tubs, yoghurt pots etc.)
- Drink cans
- Food tins (place tin lids inside the tin)
- Aluminium foil (e.g. for baking, covering food)
- Aluminium foil trays (e.g. take-away trays)
- Aerosol cans (please ensure that they are empty)
No thanks!
- Plastic carrier bags (e.g. supermarket bags, fruit bags etc.)
- Plastic wrapping and packaging (e.g. crisp packets, cereal bags, plastic bread bags, plastic nappy packaging and any other plastic wrapping)
- Hard plastics (e.g. coat hangers, toys, flower pots, paint pots etc.)
- Polystyrene
- Black plastic trays
- Batteries (these can be recycled at retailers who sell batteries)
These items should be placed in your black wheelie bin.
Top tips for recycling plastic bags and wrapping:
REpeat the CYCLE - Plastic carrier bags, plastic wrappings and packaging can now be recycled at over 4000 supermarkets.
- Check out the RecycleNow Recycling Locator to find your nearest supermarket recycling point.
- Ensure bags and wrapping are food-free and as clean as possible. This will mean its in the best possible condition for recycling.
- Keep your used, clean plastic bags and wrapping all together and take it in bulk on your next supermarket trip. Whether it's stashed in a cupboard under the sink or bundled together in a bag by your front door - find a storage system that works for you!
- Add a reminder on your shopping list to take these back with you to the shop.
Why don’t we accept plastic carrier bags?
We cannot collect any plastic that is in a bag or sack; all recycling should be presented loose.
Plastic bags are not accepted for recycling at our Material Handling Facility, however, many supermarkets accept clean plastic film and packaging in store. Unfortunately, plastic bags and film placed in your Red Box can become tangled in the sorting machinery, potentially causing breakdowns, or even fires. If there is plastic film or packaging in your Red Box we would consider this as contamination, this could result in your box not being collected or an entire lorry load being rejected. Help us to recycle as much as possible, keep contamination out!
What happens to the collected plastic and cans?
The collection crew deposit the mixed plastics and cans into one compartment on the vehicle. At the Materials Handling Facility in Southall Lane the cans and plastics undergo mechanical separation and are split into three material streams; aluminium, steel and mixed plastics. These are then baled and sold on to re-processors.
- Aluminium is re-melted and used to produce new cans.
- Steel is re-melted and used to produce new cans.
- Plastics are sent to a plastic recycling facility where the different types of plastic are separated and baled. Once washed they can be reused in a variety of ways.
Any rejected plastic waste is sent for incineration where the energy content of the material is utilised.
Alternative services
You can take your Recycling and Household / Garden Waste free of charge to Space Waye Reuse and Recycling Centre. There are alternative re-use and recycling sites available in West London.
