Know your plastic!
It can be hard to know what to do with all the various types of plastic items we use, so here's some info to clear things up.
What types of plastic can be recycled?
It varies slightly depending where you live in London. Check out our services at a glance area for some simple ‘at-a-glance’ information and check our postcode locator for more in-depth details. If you’re still unclear, check your local council website – all councils have web pages dedicated to recycling.
Generally, you can recycle these things at home...
Hand soap bottles
Remember to remove the pumps!
Bleach bottles
Shampoo bottles
Shower gel bottles
Milk cartons
Plastic pots, tubs and trays
Clear and coloured plastic bottles
Plastic spray cleaner bottles
And you can’t recycle these at home...
Crisp packets
Sweet wrappers
Plastic film
Laminated pouches
Medicine blister packs
Polystyrene
Plastic toys (hard plastic)
Plastic bottles containing chemicals
Squeezy toothpaste tubes
Shocking fact!
It’s estimated that around 35.8 million plastic bottles are used EVERY DAY in the UK, but only 19.8 million of these are recycled. In London, we get through an average of two million plastic bottles of water every day. Consider investing in a reusable water bottle and Keep Cup and avoid single-use plastic wherever possible to help reduce plastic waste.
Check out our waste prevention tips and start your journey to zero waste today!
A rinse will do
Rinse packaging – leftover food residue can ruin your recycling.
Leave labels on
Leave labels on but remove film tops from plastic pots and chuck in your rubbish bin.
A-Z of recycling
You can use our A-Z search to find out if something can be recycled and how to recycle it properly.
