Recycling plastic

Most people are recycling plastic, but we know it can be confusing which plastics you can recycle. You’ve also told us it’s not clear how you should prepare plastic for recycling.

What you can recycle 

Plastic bottles

All household plastic bottles can be recycled – just rinse, empty, and squash them, and put the lid or spray trigger back on. It’s important to empty liquids out, as these make the bottles too heavy to be sorted correctly. 

Plastic pots, tubs and trays

Remove any film and bubble wrap – you can recycle these, too. If there’s an absorbent layer, it needs to go in your black bin. Wash the plastic and shake off any excess water.

You can recycle:

• yoghurt pots (all sizes)
• fruit trays
• fresh soup or sauce pots
• margarine or butter tubs
• dishwasher tablets
• thin moulded plastic packaging, such as from toys, batteries or Easter eggs – separate them from any cardboard

Plastic bags and film

Empty, clean and dry film or bags only. Please do not put items inside bags.

You can recycle bags from:

• bread or baked goods
• magazine or mail wrapping (unless it’s compostable)
• cereal packet inner bags
• carrier bags
• multipack wrapping, such as from toilet rolls or baked bean tins
• cling film
• peel-off lids, such as from fruit punnets

Packaging labels

Symbols on packaging are designed to give a consistent message about which packaging can be easily recycled. These can be found below:

Labels can be removed during the recycling process. It is helpful to separate different materials though – like removing film lids, and separating plastic packaging from cardboard.

Single-use plastics

It’s always best to reduce and reuse before you recycle, so you could try reducing your plastic footprint by:

• refilling a bottle with tap water instead of buying bottled
• remembering to take bags to the shops
• choosing products with less packaging, or recyclable packaging. For example, pet food in tins or foil trays
• shopping at a local refill shop
• making a packed lunch instead of buying convenience food
• storing leftovers in Tupperware (or just a bowl with a plate on top) instead of using cling film
• asking for no straw in restaurants
• using a washable cloth and spray cleaner instead of disposable cleaning wipes
• using washable baby wipes or nappies

You could take part in the annual international Plastic Free July, teaming up with 250 million people around the world to support each other to change small habits to reduce plastic waste - together making a big difference.

For more information on reducing waste please visit our how to reduce waste webpages.

What we do not recycle

These items should be put in your black bin except where stated.

• toothpaste tubes (these can be recycled through Terracycle)
• foil pouches or wrappers. For example, pet food or baby food pouches and tea bag or chocolate wrappers (these can be recycled in soft plastics recycling bins at most supermarkets)
• biodegradable or compostable plastic – these should be put in your black bin
• drinking straws
• nappies
• crisp packets with metallic inside (these can be recycled in soft plastics recycling bins at most supermarkets)
• hard plastic, for example, buckets, toys and storage boxes (check Cambridgeshire County Council's website to see which hard plastic items can be recycled at Household Recycling Centres)
• polystyrene takeaway containers
• protective polystyrene, foam or sponge packaging, for example from computers (Curry's PC World will take back their own TV packaging for recycling)
• disposable paper cups, for example, coffee cups (made of a mixture of plastic and paper - some coffee shops such as Costa have recycling bins in-store)

For information on other items that should go in your black or green bins, please read our what goes in which bin page.