Red Bin

Plastic bags CANNOT go in your Green or Yellow bins!

The only household bin that plastic bags can go in is your Red Bin. They cannot go in the Yellow Bin because get caught in the cogs and break our recycling machinery. They cannot go in the Green Bin because they are not organic material. Some supermarkets have collection bins for soft plastic. Otherwise, plastic bags should ONLY be put in your Red Bin.

Let’s look at some common items that belong in your red bin.

Flip each of the cards to learn more about each of these items.

Ceramics

While they may seem like a type of 'glass', ceramics mixed in with recyclable glass will weaken the new recycled product. So, ceramics belong in the Red Bin.

Drinking glasses

The glass used for drinking glasses has a different melting temperature to other glass, so is not suitable for our yellow bins. Put drinking glasses in your Red Bin.

Soft Plastics

Soft plastics cannot go in your Yellow Bin because they stuck in the gears or our sorting machines. Plastic bags belong in your Red Bin, or can be taken to a soft plastics collection point near you.

Foam & Polystyrene

Because it is so light weight and can break apart easily and mix with the wrong recyclables, polystyrene cannot go in your Yellow Bin. Place polystyrene in your Red Bin.

Nappies

Used nappies are way too messy and stinky to go anywhere other than your Red Bin! New disposable nappies also belong in your Red Bin because they're made up of too many materials to be recycled.

Pet Waste & Kitty Litter

Pet waste and most kitty litter contains nasties that cannot be composted, so it needs to go in your Red Bin.

Time to check in with how much you’ve learnt!

Remember helping Harry Hastings to sort his waste right back in the first lesson? If you didn’t quite get all the waste items in the bin the first time, now’s the time to check how much you’ve learnt in this module by having another go!

How did you go? Don’t worry if you haven’t quite got there yet. As they say, practise makes perfect! You can come back to any of these lessons at any time to refresh the rules about what goes in which bin.

Make sure your family has downloaded our FREE Waste Info App!

Our free Waste Info App helps your household keep track of your bin collection days, make the most of Council’s waste services, and get your waste sorted. It includes an A-Z guide of what goes in which bin (with pictures!), so your whole family can become Which Bin Warriors!

Remember! There are some things that don’t belong in ANY of our bins.

Click ‘next’ to find out what you should never put in any of your household bins.