Recycle from home
We operate a fortnightly collection of recyclable material. Householders are given a 240 litre wheeled bin, or if they don't have the room to store or put out a bin for collection, they are given a re-usable plastic bag.
The recyclable materials we collect are:
- Paper (newspapers, magazines, yellow pages, catalogues, telephone directories, shredded paper contained within envelopes* and junk mail plus printer paper and envelopes including those with plastic windows)
- Cardboard
- Plastics (clean yoghurt pots and margarine containers and empty bottles with tops removed. No film, crisp packets, plastic bags, cellophane wrapping or expanded polystyrene.)
- Food and drinks cans (please rinse out, no need to remove paper labels)
- Aerosols (empty cans with plastic lids removed please)
- Aluminium foil (such as rinsed takeaway containers)
* Shredded paper needs to be contained within envelopes, otherwise, the individual strips can cause problems with the machinery that sorts the recycling, by causing blockages or simply falling through the mechanism into the rejects bin.
Recycling collection
Please put your recycling container on the boundary of your property by 6.30am on the day of your collection (but not before 6.30pm the night before). The items should be loose and not in plastic bags. To find out your collection day please visit the find my collection day page or contact us. Further information is also given in the recycling calendar which you can download below:
Home recycling calendar [418KB]
Items we don't take in the recycling collection include:
- Cellophane
- Glass (can be recycled at recycling banks around the city)
- Tetra packs (some juice cartons)
- Crisp packets
- Sweet wrappers
- Polythene
- Polystyrene
- Pyrex glass
- Clothes and shoes (can be recycled at recycling banks around the city)
- Nappies
- Plastic bags
- Household batteries (can be recycled at battery collection points around the city)
Assisted collection
If you are not able to put your bin out for collection due to age or disability and there is no one in your household that can help, you may be eligible for our assisted collection. You can download an application form from the documents table below, or contact us for more information.
Need a smaller bin?
If your wheeled bin is too big for your household's needs and you are not producing much rubbish, please contact us and we will be happy to replace it with a smaller 140 litre bin.
Missed bin?
If your bin has not been collected
- was it put out by 6.30am?
- was it at the boundary of your property?
- was it put out on the correct collection day?
- did it only contain the type of items listed above (paper, cardboard, plastic, food and drinks cans, aerosols, foil)? Any other items must be removed and the bin will be collected on your next scheduled recycling collection day.
Call us by the end of the following working day and we will return within 48 hours (not including weekends and bank holidays) to empty your bin.
Home recycling scheme leaflet [790KB]
Application for assisted collection [162KB]
Replacement bin
If your bin has been damaged, stolen or needs to be fixed / replaced please contact us by phoning 01752 668000 or email us at recycling@plymouth.gov.uk and we can arrange for a replacement.