Recycling with Cheltenham Borough Council
The guidance on this page is for recycling plastic at home only. For all other materials visit Bins and recycling | Cheltenham Borough Council
Know your plastics
| Should I be washing and squashing my plastics? | Yes, please wash and squash your plastics (where possible) as it saves space in your recycling container | |
| Can I recycle black plastic packaging | Not recyclable at kerbside, please put in your non recycling bin | |
| Can I recycle plastic film including bread bags and crisp packets | Not recyclable at kerbside, please put in your non recycling bin | You may be able to recycle them at your local supermarket. Check if your local store recycles bags. |
| Should I leave on or remove lids? | Leave them on and they will be recycled | |
| Should I leave on or remove trigger sprays (like on cleaning sprays) | Please remove these and put them in your non recycling bin | |
When?
Fortnightly: recycling box collection (2 boxes) for plastic bottles, tubs, trays, metal tins, cans and aerosols, and paper and glass bottles and jars.
What do we want?
Plastic bottles
- Clear/coloured plastic bottles
- Detergent bottles
- Hand soap bottles (without pump)
- Cleaning product bottles (e.g. bleach bottles and bathroom cleaners)
- Skin care product bottles
- Shampoo and shower gel bottles
- Milk bottles
- Fizzy and non fizzy drinks and water bottles
Plastic packaging
- Pots, e.g. yoghurt, soup
- Tubs, e.g. margarine, ice cream
- Trays or punnets, e.g. raw or cooked meat trays; take away trays, fruit and veg trays
- Chocolate and biscuit tubs and trays
What don't we want?
- Crisp packets
- Pre-prepared salad bags
- Film lids from pots or trays
- Black polystyrene trays
- Medicine packs e.g. headache pills
- Plastic film/wrappers/bags*
- Pet food pouches
- Soap bottle pumps
- Paint pots
- Plastic toys
- Plastic plant pots
- Bubble wrap
- Plastic bottles containing chemicals e.g. anti-freeze
- Polystyrene packaging
- Tetrapak
* Plastic bags cannot be recycled through the kerbside recycling collection services. However, some local supermarkets have recycling collection points in store: check if your local store recycles bags.
Can't recycle an item? Find out where you can take your items to be recycled.