What NOT to recycle

Whilst recycling is a great way for you to help our planet, it is important not to put the wrong materials in your orange bag, green bin or blue ‘mixed recycling’ bin. Putting the wrong materials into your orange bag, green bin or blue mixed recycling bin can contaminate the whole lot and mean it will be sent to landfill instead of recycled.

Certain materials are not collected for recycling because the sorting plant used by the Council is not set up to deal with these materials and/or the reprocessing facilities (to physically turn the old materials into new ones) do not exist locally. The Council’s recycling service currently cannot collect the following items:

Food waste
Garden waste
Textiles
Wood
Building / DIY materials
Polystyrene

Important: Please do not place any of these items into your orange bag, green bin or blue ‘mixed recycling’ bin.

However, alternatives are available. Please see the following:

Food waste and garden waste can easily be composted and Thames Water is currently offering customers a reduced price compost bin. Please see Home composting.

Garden waste can also be collected free of charge (and composted) from Spring to late Autumn each year. This is called the Jute Bag service. Please call Streetline on 0207 361 3001 for more information.

Textiles will be received at any charity shop where they will sell them on. Alternatively, please look out for textile recycling banks around the borough. See Mini Recycling Centres.

Wood / Building materials. You could dispose of old wood or building materials by giving it away, for free, via the Freecycle network, or sell it to friends. You could also use the Council’s ‘Too Big For The Bin’ service whereby it will be taken away for a fee. Please call Streetline on 0207 361 3001 for more information. See Freecycle network.

Polystyrene - If you know of a local artist, or community group who requires polystyrene for artistic purposes, then please donate what you have to them. Otherwise, don’t include polystyrene for recycling in your orange bag, green bin, or blue ‘mixed recycling’ bin.