Your guide to recycling
Glass (use glass bin where provided)
Empty oil drums
Steel cans
Aluminium cans
#5 Plastics (PP)
#2 Plastics (HDPE)
#1 Plastics (PET)
Compostable packaging
Fast food packaging
Paper towels, tissues, dishcloths
Polystyrene
Coffee cups (recycled at some sites)
Bagged recyclables
Disposable cutlery and drinking cups
Plastic bags and soft plastics
Tetrapak and juice cartons
Electric wires (recycled at some sites)
Learn more
It is important to ensure that all containers are rinsed out before placing them into the Mixed Recycling bin as some of the materials are sorted by hand.
Recycling one tonne of plastic milk bottles saves as many greenhouse gases as planting one tree.
What happens to my recycling?
The materials from your recycling bin (excluding paper and card from the paper pod) go to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted and separated so they can be sent to reprocessors to be turned into new products. The infographic shows Birmingham’s journey of recycling that is processed by Veolia.
