Using your recycling bins

We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone in the Wakefield district who recycles and sorts their household waste correctly. It really is making a difference!

Visit the Where I Live page to check your bin collection days.

Download the Renewi free app (available on Google Play and App Store) for information and advice on what goes in each bin, tips on how to recycle and dispose of your rubbish correctly and locating your nearest recycling centre.

Using your bins at home

Most homes in Wakefield have three household bins – one green and two brown. Sorting your rubbish into the correct bin is important; it ensures items can be recycled and reduces the need for raw materials thus reducing our carbon impact and it reduces the amount of rubbish we have to dispose of.

We can recycle and reuse up to 95 per cent of items (including from your green bin), but only if you have sorted your rubbish at home.

Some items, such as electrical goods, textiles, wood and paint do not belong in any bin - they need to be taken to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Let’s sort it out!

Here are some helpful tips on sorting your rubbish into the correct bin. Please note, this is not an complete list of items, but covers the most popular items.

You can also download our helpful guide to getting the most out of your recycling collection, and using your bins correctly.

Brown recycling bin

Rinsing bottles and jars is essential so they can be recycled; please replace their lids before they go in the bin. We can recycle these too. Squashing cardboard boxes will help save space, meaning you can get more in. Please only place these items in your brown recycling bin.

Yes please

• plastics - only bottle shaped plastics and their lids should be put in your brown recycling bin. This includes pop bottles, detergent bottles, washing up liquid bottles. All other plastics belong in the green bin always empty, wash and put the lids back on
• steel cans - soup, beans, dog food and so on - remember to give them a quick rinse
• aluminium drinks cans
• paper and card - including paperback books, newspapers, magazines and envelopes
• glass bottles and jars - but not if they're broken. Rinse and put the lids back on
• aerosol cans (that are empty) - for example deodorant bottles, air fresheners and furniture polish

If your brown recycling bin gets full, you can use plastic bags to leave additional recycling at the side of the bin. Do not put plastic bags inside your bin.

No thanks

Items that shouldn’t go in your brown recycling bin include:

• anything plastic that isn’t a bottle or a lid - all food packaging, carrier bags, soup or yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, fruit or vegetable punnets and food trays
• window pane glass, drinking glasses and Pyrex dishes
• shredded/ waxed/ greaseproof paper
• card with food on it, for example, takeaway pizza boxes
• juice and smoothie cartons
• any metal items other than cans and tins

Green household bin

Rubbish in the green bin is also sorted and items are recycled.

We can recycle some items from your green bin too, so make sure you put these items in this bin.

Yes please

• Juice cartons
• Plastic food trays - for example take-out trays, trays that cooked and uncooked meats come in
• Yoghurt pots and ice cream tubs
• Food
• Pet food
• Plastic bags
• Plastic packaging
• Nappies

Garden recycling bin

We collect garden waste from March through to November. Here is a list of what can and cannot go in that bin

Yes please

• flowers and plants
• bark, twigs and branches
• leaves
• hedge trimmings and prunings
• grass cuttings
• weeds

No thanks

• food, fruit or vegetables
• soil, turf or compost
• pet waste and cat litter
• bones and eggshells
• vacuum contents and hair
• planks of wood or large branches
• rubbish or recycling

Extra general rubbish including garden waste if left in a bag outside of your bin, will not be taken. You should take it to a Household Waste Recycling Centre. 

If you have extra clean recycling, for example paper or tins, put it in a plastic bag and the bin crew will take it.

These videos show how waste from your recycling, garden and rubbish bins is processed in the Wakefield district.

Recycling centres

Larger items, electrical items, batteries, extra general rubbish and items for donation should be taken to your nearest household waste recycling centre. Find out what can be taken and where.