Popular recycling questions
What is your question about?
What can be recycled?
What can I put in my recycling bins?
Download our latest guide for what types of rubbish your
can put in your recycling bins at home.
What can I put in my recycling bins? (723KB)
Your light green recycling bin only
wants:
- Glass jars and bottles (no lids please!)
- Food, drink and aerosol cans (washed and squashed)
- Plastic bottles (no lids and no other plastics please!)
- Tin foil (such as clean tin foil and metal food trays)
And nothing
else.
Please put all these items into the bin
loose - not in plastic bags as the machinery that is used to
sort the recycling out cannot open bags. Please remember to
rinse your recyclable waste to keep your bin clean and avoid
it smelling.
Top tip! With the
exception of aerosol cans, flatten or squash your rubbish to make
more room in your bin.
Your blue bin/bag for paper and
cardboard only wants:
- Newspapers and magazines (remove any plastic covers)
- Phonebooks (e.g. Yellow Pages)
- Catalogues
- Envelopes
- Junk mail
- Office paper (including shredded paper)
- Greetings cards
- All cardboard packing (such as cereal, shoe and egg boxes)
- Cartons and tetra packs (washed and squashed)
And nothing
else.
Top tip! Flatten cardboard
so you've got more space in your blue bin or bag!
Also make sure you shred paper that has your
personal details printed on it before you put it in your blue
bin/bag.
Brown garden waste
bin:
Why can't I put everything that states it can be recycled in my
recycling bins?
We send the waste you put out to be recycled to a Greater
Manchester recycling plant, but unfortunately it doesn’t have the
facilities to process every material – even if the packaging states
it can be recycled. If you can’t put something in your recycling
bins, you can check if it can be recycled at your local
household waste disposal site.
Why can't I recycle other plastics apart from plastic
bottles?
Plastic bottles are made from high quality
polymers, whereas other plastics are made from lower grade polymers
which are difficult and costly to recycle.
We only collect plastic bottles as these are the only types of
plastic we guarantee will be recycled.
Recycling collections
When will my recycling waste be
collected?
Please put your recycling bins and/or blue bags out
by 7am on the day of your recycling
collection.
Every year, we also distribute printed bin collection
calendars to every household. If you need another printed
calendar please call us on 0845 226 1800 or email recycling@rochdale.gov.uk.
All we need to know is your house number and postcode.
What happens if my recycling isn't
collected?
If your recycling hasn't been collected as scheduled on
your bin collection calendar please complete
our recycling and
rubbish form.
Will my bins be collected on bank holidays?
You won't be affected. Our collections operate from Tuesday to
Fridays, so you won't be affected by Monday bank holiday. We
also make collections on Good Friday, so it's business as
usual for bin collections.
Any changes shall be communicated.
Recycling bins
How do I ask for a new bin or get more blue bags?
If your bin has been stolen or damaged or your need a bin or
blue bag for recycling please complete our recycling and rubbish form or call us
on 0845 226 1800 and tell us what you need.
If you want a new blue bag you can pick one up for free from a
number of blue bag outlets.
Most people have a large bin, but if you require a smaller
one please ring us or complete the recycling and rubbish form
above.
I'd like a blue bin instead of a blue bag for recycling my
paper and cardboard. How do I get one?
Blue bins are subject to availability, so please only request
one if you recycle lots of paper and cardboard and if your blue bag
is not suitable.
If you're interested in having a blue bin complete our blue bin
request form or call us on 0845 226 1800.
Managing your rubbish at home
How can I separate my rubbish before taking it to my bins
outside?
A good idea is to have separate bins in your kitchen so the
rubbish you put in each one matches your bins outside. So, you
could have a bin in your kitchen for everything that goes in your
light green recycling bin and another one for refuse. That way,
you’re separating and managing your waste from home.
How can I make more room in my bin to stop it overflowing?
There are lots of things you can do to 'lower your waste line'.
Try following these tips, and have a good read of this page too as
we hope we can answer lots of your questions.
- Put your rubbish in the right bin - see our
guide 'What
can I put in my recycling bins?'
- Squash it - wash and squash anything you can to make more room
in your bins (except for aerosol cans though - please don't squash
these!)
- Take a trip to the tip - if you find there's no room left in
your bins then a trip to the tip may be in order. We've three
household waste disposal sites in the borough
and they're free for the public to use.
- Tips to slim your bin - see more of our bin slimming tips.
What happens to my recycling waste?
Mixed paper and card from your blue
bin/bag
Your mixed paper and card is baled into large quantities here in
Greater Manchester and then transported to a reprocessor. Around
80% of the paper and card you recycle is made into new products in
the UK. This could be anything from newspapers and cardboard boxes
to other packaging card. So newspaper you recycle today can be
reprocessed and be back in your house as your cereal box. The
remaining 20% of the paper and card you recycle can be sent to
Europe or further afield. Rest assured this material is sent as a
quality resource for recycling and our systems and controls ensure
that this happens. The paper and card is still recycled into the
same new items as they would be in the UK.
To find out more about the process download the
paper and recycling factsheet.
Food and garden waste
Four enclosed In-Vessel Composting (IVC) facilities process and
treat kitchen and garden waste collected from Greater Manchester
households to produce a quality compost for horticulture and
agriculture.
Prior to composting, some waste may be shredded and then passed
through a bio-chopper – which aerates it and makes it more even.
Once chopping is complete, and any unwanted plastic and metal has
been removed, the material is deposited into the vessels (silo
cages) via a series of conveyor belts.
Over the next 10 - 14 days, the material will naturally descend
down the cage, passing through a range of temperature zones which
accelerates the activity of the bacteria naturally present in the
waste. When the material reaches the bottom of the cage, it is
automatically removed for storage and maturation, where the compost
can be processed to meet the requirements of the end user. To find
out more information on the process download the In-vessel
Composting (IVC) factsheet (506kb pdf).
Glass bottles and jars
Your glass bottles and jars are separated by a mechanical
sorting process from the other materials that are collected for
recycling (food and drinks cans and plastic bottles) and loaded in
large quantities in Greater Manchester and then transported to a
reprocessor.
100% of the glass you recycle is made into new products in the
UK. This can be anything from new glass bottles and jars, or to be
used in building products and insulation. The jam jar you recycle
today might be reprocessed into loft insulation.
Food and drinks cans
Your food and drinks cans are separated in Greater Manchester by
a mechanical sorting process from the other materials that are
collected for recycling (glass bottles and jars and plastic
bottles). The aluminium and steel is baled separately and then
transported in large quantities and then sent to a reprocessor.
100% of the food and drinks cans you recycle are made into new
products in the UK. The aluminium or steel will be cleaned and
melted down to be used again. This can be for anything from cars
and planes to fridge parts as well as for new food and drinks
cans.
Plastic bottles
Your plastic bottles are separated by a mechanical sorting
process from the other materials that are collected for recycling
(food and drinks cans and glass bottles and jars) and baled into
separate types of plastic (HDPE and PET) in Greater Manchester and
then transported in large quantities to a reprocessor. Around 50%
of the plastic bottles you recycle are made into new products in
the UK. The plastic bottles will be cleaned and chipped ready to be
melted down to be used again for anything from new bottles, pipes
and toys to garden products. The other 50% of the plastic bottles
you recycle can be sent to Europe or further afield, but rest
assured this material is sent as a quality resource for recycling
and our systems and controls ensure that this happens. Parts of
Europe and China for example, have large manufacturing businesses
that have a demand for our plastic bottles for use in their new
products: your plastic bottle might come back to the UK in a
children’s toy, a garden chair or a car bumper.
To find out more about how your mixed recycling is processed
download the
mixed recycling factsheet.
Wasting less, recycling more
I want to reduce the amount of waste I produce. What can I
do?
Reduce, reuse, recycle! See our page about helping you
recycle more for lots of tips, including:
- Composting
- Real nappies
- Reducing packaging
- Reducing junk mail
What can I do to reduce food waste?
The Love
Food Hate Waste campaign offers lots of great tips to help you
use your food and save you cash.
Is there anything else I can do to recycle more?
There are lots of great tips for how you can reduce, reuse and
recycle more of your waste at Recycle for Greater
Manchester and Recycle Now.
Not answered your question?
Send us an email at environmental.management@rochdale.gov.uk
or call 0845 226 1800.