Recycling and waste

Having a low waste party doesn't need to be complicated

There are two elements to consider, how do you reduce waste and how do you recycle everything else !

Reduce your waste 

• BYOC - bring your own containers - Ask everyone to bring their own plates and cups. Make it fun by holding a competition to find the best party cup / finest royal goblet.
• Go reusable - Have reusable napkins and plenty of clean tea towels available for spills
• Get creative with table coverings - Use reusable table cloths/ use bed sheets for large table cloths
• Go Greener with your décor - Check out our decorations section to avoid needing plastic decorations
• Get talking about waste - Let everyone know about other kinds of waste - buying new outfits, plastic wrapped food, can all be banned!

Recycle 

• Use our royal recycling signs - Use our handy recycling station signs - remember to have different containers to separate materials and make it easier after the party.
• Food Recycling - Have a food waste recycling point or a compost recycling point where guests can scrape their plates and pop any their cooked or uncooked food in the bin to be recycled.
• Talk about your recycling stations - Let everyone know recycling is available and ask organisers to leave black bin bags at home so guests are encouraged to try and recycle as much as possible.
• Plan who will be in charge of recycling on the day - Agree with other organisers ahead of time who is willing to help keep an eye on the bins and containers on the day and who is able to take some waste / recycling home after the event.
• Recycling containers at the ready - When setting up on the day make sure you have the containers handy and clearly label your waste and recycling set up with our printable Royal Recycling Signs. If you are having a local street party, using your local council recycling containers will help your neighbours to remember what recycling goes where.

If you have co-mingled recycling (where you have a wheelie bin for recycling) consider using an old cardboard box to collect your recycling on the day so that you can double check it is all recyclable before putting it all into your wheelie bin. 

Please note that districts will not be making any special event / party collections or accepting any additional waste presented next to your non-recyclable bin(s). Please take any additional non-recyclable waste to your local HRC site. Find your local site and book your slot.

Find out how to correctly dispose of your waste and recycling depending on your district below: