Reuse and recycling A-Z

For more information on what waste can and can't be recycled, see our table below.

Like our Recycle for County Durham on Facebook page to get handy tips and information on reducing waste, reusing, recycling and composting.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Please do not bag your recycling in black sacks or carrier bags. We must be able to see the contents. Please wash and squash food packaging, where practical, before placing the items loose in your recycling bin. For a full A-Z list, please download the Icon for pdf A to Z of Reuse and Recycling (PDF, 158.1kb) .

Reuse and Recycling A-Z (A)
Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Aerosol cans	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Aluminium foil	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Clean aluminium foil only. Please remove food residue.
Aluminium cans	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please rinse before recycling.
Aprons	No	No	No	No	No	Disposable aprons (personal protective equipment/PPE) should be placed in the rubbish bin as they cannot be recycled.
Ash	No	No	No	No	Yes (Wood ash only)	Cooled wood ash can be added to your home compost bin. Coal ash cannot be composted and should be bagged and put in the rubbish bin.

Top of page

Reuse and Recycling A-Z (B)
Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Bags (fashion)	No	No	No	No	No	Donate to local charity shops, sell online or give to family/friends.
Batteries	No	No	No	Yes	No	Supermarkets often offer battery recycling.
Bedding (see also sheets)	No	No	Some banks are clothes only but some are textiles and accept blankets, sheets etc.	Yes	No	You can also take old bedding to a local animal rescue centre.
Belts	No	No	No	No	No	Donate to local charity shops, sell online or give to family/friends.
Biscuit tins	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	You can also reuse tins for storage.
Blankets	No	No	Some banks are clothes only but some are textiles and accept blankets, sheets etc.	Yes in textile banks (there isn't a skip for textiles)	No	Donate to local charity shops/clothing banks; sell online or give to family/friends. Some animal charities will accept used blankets.
Books	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	You can also donate books to your local charity shop or give them to a friend.
Bottles - glass	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Please wash and replace lids before recycling.
Bottles - plastic	Yes	No	No	No	No	Please squash clean bottles and replace lid before recycling.
Bubble wrap	No	No	No	No	No	You can reuse bubble wrap when moving or packing ornaments or donate to charity shops.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Cans	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please rinse these out before you put them in your bin.
Cardboard boxes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Cardboard boxes can go in your recycling bin. Large cardboard boxes can be flattened and placed next to your recycling bin or you can take them to the household waste recycling centres. Please make sure cardboard is dry, we cannot recycle wet cardboard.
Cards	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Some supermarkets will recycle Christmas cards for a short time after Christmas. Cards with decorative glitter, glue, ribbons/bows or musical attachments cannot be recycled in your blue lidded recycling bin.
Carpets	No	No	No	Yes	No
Carrier bags	No	No	No	No	Compostable carrier bags only	Plastic carrier bags cannot be placed in the recycling bin. Most carrier bags can be recycled at your local supermarket or reused when you go shopping.
Cartons (Cardboard e.g. Tetra Pak)	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please wash and squash cartons and replace any lids.
Catalogues	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	You can find out how to opt out of unwanted catalogues on our Stop junk mail page.
CDs and DVDs	No	No	No	Yes	No	Discs can't be recycled and go in your general rubbish bin. You could also donate them to your local charity shop or give them to a friend.
Cereal boxes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Cereal boxes can be recycled but the plastic bag in the box can't. You should put this in the general rubbish bin.
Ceramics	No	No	No	Yes	No	If they are in good condition why not give them to your local charity shop.
China plates and ornaments	No	No	No	No	No	If it is in good condition why not donate it to a local charity shop?
Cling film	No	No	No	No	No	Cling film goes in your rubbish bin.
Clothing	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Clothes can be donated to a local charity shop, clothing banks; sell online or give to family/friends.
Cooking oil	No	No	No	Yes	No	Please do not pour cooking oil down the sink, toilet or drain.
Corks synthetics/plastic	No	No	No	No	No	These go in your rubbish bin.
Crisp packets	No	No	No	No	No	These go in your rubbish bin.
Curtains	No	No	No	No	No	Donate to local charity shops/clothing banks; sell online or give to family/friends.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)	No	No	No	No	No	Items such as aprons, face masks and gloves cannot be recycled and should be placed in your rubbish bin at home.
Drink glasses	No	No	No	No	No	Drink glasses can't be recycled in your box but undamaged glasses can be taken to a charity shop.
Dusters	No	No	No	No	No	Please wash and reuse
Duvets	No	No	No	No	No	In clean/good condition, donate to local charities. Some animal charities will accept used duvets.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Egg boxes - cardboard	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Only cardboard egg boxes can be recycled. Egg boxes made out of other materials go in your rubbish bin.
Elastic bands	No	No	No	No	No	These go in your rubbish bin.
Envelopes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Engine oil	No	No	No	Yes	No	This must be clearly labelled and in the original container.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Fabric	No	No	No	No	No	Reuse for dusters/cleaning cloths. Upcycle into clothing/cushion covers etc.
Face masks	No	No	No	No	No	Disposable face masks should be placed in the rubbish bin as they cannot be recycled. Reusable face masks can be washed and reused many times. At the end of their life, if they are cotton, they can be composted at home or placed in the rubbish bin.
Foil	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Foil can only be recycled if it is clean. Please remove food residue.
Food tins	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please rinse and remove food residue before recycling.
Food waste	No	No	No	No	Yes	Vegetable peelings and fruit only. No cooked food, meat or dairy.
Fridges or freezers	No	No	No	Yes	No	Fridges and freezers in good working order can be donated to a furniture reuse scheme. If they are broken they can be collected as part of the Book a bulky waste (large items) collection.
Furniture	No	No	No	Yes	No	Furniture in good condition can be donated to a furniture reuse scheme. If it is unsuitable it can be collected as part of the Book a bulky waste (large items) collection

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Garden waste	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	This goes in your garden waste bin if you have subscribed to the scheme. To sign up see our Garden waste collections page.
Glass (broken)	No	No	No	No	No	Please wrap the glass and put it in your rubbish bin.
Glass panes	No	No	No	No	No	This glass is different to glass bottles and must be taken to your household waste recycling centre (tip).
Glass bottles and jars	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Please wash bottles and jars before recycling. Clean metal lids and caps can now be recycled in your recycling bin. If they are a mix of metal and other materials such as plastic, these should go in your rubbish bin.
Gloves	No	No	No	No	No	Disposable gloves (personal protective equipment/PPE) should be placed in the rubbish bin as they cannot be recycled.
Greaseproof/wax paper	No	No	No	No	No	This goes in your rubbish bin.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Hangers	No	No	No	No	No	These cannot be recycled but you can reuse them at home or donate them to a local charity shop or dry cleaners. Some supermarkets will recycle coat hangers.
Hard plastics	No	No	No	Yes	No	Hard plastic items such as garden furniture, buckets, plant pots and children's toys cannot be put in the recycling bin. Please take these to your household waste recycling centre (tip).

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Juice cartons	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please wash and squash cartons and replace lids before recycling.
Juice bottles	Yes (plastic)	Yes (glass)	Yes (glass)	Yes (glass)	No	Please wash and squash the bottles and replace the lid before recycling.
Junk mail	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	View our Stop junk mail to reduce your chance of receiving junk mail.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Laminated paper and cardboard	No	No	No	No	No	These items go in your rubbish bin.
Letters	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes (shredded)	We recommend you shred personal details. Shredded paper can be composted or put in your rubbish bin.
Lids (plastic)	Yes	No	No	No	No	Plastic lids can now be recycled. Please wash and squash cartons and plastic bottles and replace lids. Trigger sprays (like those on cleaning product bottles) can also now be recycled. Please wash and squash the bottle and replace the trigger spray.
Lids (metal)	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Clean metal lids and caps can now be recycled in your recycling bin. If they are a mix of metal and other materials such as plastic, these should go in your rubbish bin.
Light bulbs	No	No	No	Yes	No	Light bulbs contain mercury, which is hazardous. These should be taken to a household waste recycling centre (tip) and not put in your rubbish or recycling bins.
Loo roll tubes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Magazines	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	You can also donate magazines to doctors, dentists and hairdressers' waiting rooms.
Margarine tubs	Yes	No	No	No	No	Please wash clean before recycling. You can also reuse tubs for storage.
Mattresses	No	No	No	Yes	No	Mattresses can be collected as part of the Book a bulky waste (large items) collection or take them to a household waste recycling centre (tip).
Medicine bottles	No	No	No	No	No	Empty medicine bottles go in your rubbish bin. Unfinished bottles should be returned to a chemist.
Microwave ready meal containers	No	No	No	No	No	These go in your rubbish bin.
Milk bottles	Yes (plastic)	Yes (glass)	Yes (glass)	Yes (glass) No (plastic)	No	Please wash and squash and replace the lid.
Mirrors	No	No	No	No	No	Give mirrors to a furniture reuse scheme, take to your household waste recycling centre (tip) or Book a bulky waste (large items) collection.
Mobile phones	No	No	No	Yes (HWRCs do not offer secure data removal or confidentiality of data, therefore it is your responsibility to ensure your data is removed before depositing any item for recycling or reuse. Items include electrical and mobile devices as well as paper documents).	No	Take to your local household waste recycling centre (tip) or donate them to a local charity shop.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Nappies	No	No	No	No	No	These go in your rubbish bin. Consider using real nappies.
Newspapers	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes (shredded)	Reuse newspaper for wrapping items when moving home.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Paint	No	No	No	Yes	No	Emulsion Paint (water based) can be disposed of at the household waste recycling centre in the general waste skip. Oil based paint can be disposed of by obtaining a Hazardous Waste Permit.
Paper	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes (shredded)	Shredded paper can be added to your compost bin.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)	No	No	No	No	No	See "Disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)".
Pet waste	No	No	No	No	Yes (vegetarian pets only)	Waste from vegetarian animals can be safely composted. Waste from meat eating animals such as cats and dogs must be placed in your rubbish bin.
Phone books	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Photographs	No	No	No	No	Yes	Photographs go in your rubbish bin.
Pillows	No	No	No	No	No
Pizza boxes (takeaway)	No	No	No	No	No	Put these in your rubbish bin. This is because the box is often contaminated with food and grease.
Pizza boxes (supermarket)	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	The cardboard outer can be recycled in your recycling bin. Put the polystyrene disc and plastic wrap in your rubbish bin.
Plant pots	No	No	No	Yes	No
Plastic bags	No	No	No	No	No	Most carrier bags and polythene plastic wrap can be recycled at your local supermarket or used again when you go shopping.
Plastic bottles	Yes	No	No	No	No	All empty, clean plastic bottles go in your recycling bin. Please wash and squash and replace the lid (except pumps).
Plastic milk bottle tops	Yes	No	No	No	No	Please replace on clean empty bottles before recycling.
Plastic pots, tubs and trays	Yes	No	No	No	No	Plastic tubs, trays and pots can be recycled but black food trays can't. Please rinse before recycling.
Plastics (rigid)	No	No	No	Yes	No	Small hard plastics go in your rubbish bin. Large hard plastics can be taken to a household waste recycling centre (tip).
Polystyrene	No	No	No	No	No	Polystyrene goes in your rubbish bin or to a household waste recycling centre (tip).
Polythene (plastic wrapping)	No	No	No	No	No	Polythene (plastic wrapping) such as bread bags, fruit and vegetable bags, plastic-wrapped groceries, toilet-roll wrap, multi-pack shrink-wrap are not collected as part of your recycling service, but they can be recycled in the carrier bag collection points at the larger stores of most major supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's. Check with your local supermarket. Alternatively, place polythene in rubbish bin along with cellophane such as confectionary box overwrap and CD overwrap.
Postcards	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Pots and pans	No	No	No	Yes	No	If they are in good condition why not donate them to a local charity shop?
Pringle crisp tubes	No	No	No	No	No
Pyrex	No	No	No	No	No	Broken pyrex glass should be wrapped and put in the rubbish bin. Pyrex dishes in good condition can be donated to a charity shop.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Scrap metal	No	No	No	Yes	No
Sheets (Bedding)	No	No	Some banks are clothes only but some are textiles and accept blankets, sheets etc.	Yes in textile banks	No	In clean/good condition, donate to local charities. Cut and reuse as dusters/cleaning cloths. Some animal charities will accept used sheets.
Shoes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Donate shoes to a local charity shop.
Shredded paper	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Shredded paper can be composted in your home compost bin.
Shrink wrap	No	No	No	No	No	This goes in your rubbish bin.
Socks	No	No	Yes	Yes in textile banks	No	In clean/good condition, donate to local charities.
Soft foam	No	No	No	No	No	Soft foam from food packaging (pizzas/fruit trays) go in the rubbish bin.
Soil	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Small amounts can be composted at home.
Spectacles	No	No	No	No	No	Many opticians collect unwanted spectacles for reuse in developing countries.
Sticking tape/sellotape on paper/card	Yes	No	No	No	No	There is no need to remove sticking tape from paper or card before recycling it as these will be sieved out when the material is pulped.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Table cloths	No	No	Some banks are clothes only but some are textiles and accept blankets, sheets etc.	No	No	In clean/good condition, donate to local charities. Reuse for outdoor picnics.
Takeaway food containers	Yes	No	No	Yes (aluminium) No (plastic)	No	Plastic and aluminium containers go in the recycling bin. Please rinse beforehand. Polystyrene containers go in the rubbish bin.
Tea towels	No	No	Some banks are clothes only but some are textiles and accept blankets, sheets etc	No	No	In clean/good condition, donate to local charities.
Telephone directories	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Televisions	No	No	No	Yes	No	Televisions in good working order can be donated to a furniture reuse scheme. If it is unsuitable for the schemes it can be taken to the household waste recycling centre (tip) or you can arrange Book a bulky waste (large items) collection.
Tetra Pak	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please remove plastic lids and rinse before recycling.
Textiles (clothing)	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Do not put clothes in the recycling bin. Donate to a charity shop. Donate bedding to a local animal rescue centre. Visit Clothes recycling for more tips.
Tins	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Please rinse before recycling.
Towels	No	No	Some banks are clothes only but some are textiles and accept blankets, sheets etc.	Yes in a textile bank	No	In clean/good condition, donate to local charities. Some animal charities will accept used duvets.
Toys	No	No	No	Yes	No	Large broken plastic toys can be taken to your household waste recycling centre (tip) or you can arrange Book a bulky waste (large items) collection. If they are in good condition why not donate them to a local charity shop or to family and friends. Remember to remove and recycle batteries.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Unaddressed mail	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	See our tips on how to Stop junk mail.
Underwear	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	In clean/good condition, donate bras, tights, lingerie and undergarments to local charities.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Vending cups	No	No	No	No	No	These go in your rubbish bin.
Video tapes	No	No	No	No	No	Donate working videos to a charity shop or put them in your rubbish bin.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Wallpaper	No	No	No	No	No	Wallpaper should not be put in the recycling bin as we cannot recycle it. Please put it in your rubbish bin. New unused rolls can be donated to your local charity shop.
Washing powder boxes (empty)	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Empty washing powder boxes can be recycled. Squash the box before recycling.
Washing up liquid bottles	Yes	No	No	No	No	Please rinse before recycling.
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)	No	No	No	Yes (HWRCs do not offer secure data removal or confidentiality of data, therefore it is your responsibility to ensure your data is removed before depositing any item for recycling or reuse. Items include electrical and mobile devices as well as paper documents.)	No	Electronic items in good working order can be donated to a furniture reuse scheme. If they are unsuitable they can be taken to a household waste recycling centre (tip) or you can arrange Book a bulky waste (large items) collection.
Wine glasses (broken)	No	No	No	No	No	Broken wine glasses cannot be recycled and should be wrapped up and put in your rubbish bin.
Wrapping paper	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Brown wrapping paper and plain wrapping paper (without glitter or foil) can be recycled. Foil and glitter based paper cannot be recycled and should be placed in your rubbish bin.

Rubbish type	In your recycling bin?	In your recycling box?	At a Recycling bank?	At the tip? (Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC))	In your compost bin?	Other
Yellow pages	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Yoghurt pots	Yes	No	No	No	No	Please rinse before recycling.