We recommend presenting your recycling in council-issued boxes, as they are offered for free, fit for purpose and appropriately sized to assist collection crews with manual handling.
You must sort your recycling into 2 waste streams:
- plastics, metals, aluminium foil, cartons and glass can be mixed together
- paper and cardboard must be kept separate from other materials
You can order additional or replacement recycling boxes if you find you require more recycling capacity. We also encourage you to mark your boxes with your house number or property name.
You can present a maximum of 6 boxes for collection. Our crews may not always be able to collect all boxes presented, due to limited capacity.
We collect the following types of recycling at the kerbside:
To help ensure safe and efficient collections:
- don't present any recycling in cardboard boxes - they can easily blow away, become weak in wet conditions, and take up too much space in our collection vehicles
- don't present paper and cardboard in plastic bags - we can’t collect paper and cardboard mixed with plastic
- don't put glass in plastic bags - this is for safety reasons
Please also remember:
- wash and squash plastics, crush cans and aluminium foil to save space
- rinse glass jars and bottles
- flatten and break up cardboard so that it fits within the recycling box
- ensure your recycling is free from food waste
- do not present broken glass for recycling, dispose of this safely in household waste
You should put your recycling out, at the front of your property (unless otherwise stated in the waste collection calendar) between 7.00pm on the day before collection, and 7.00am on your collection day. Do not put your recycling out at any other time.
Recycling plastic at the kerbside
We collect a wide range of clean, light-coloured, or clear plastics in our kerbside recycling. Plastics we accept will be labelled:
- PET 1
- HDPE 2
- PP 5
These plastics can be mixed with metals, aluminium foil, cartons and glass when presenting your recycling.
Yes please:
- plastic bottles, with lids on/attached - for example, fizzy drink/milk/soap/shampoo and cleaning product bottles with trigger spray nozzles on
- plastic pots - for example, yoghurt
- plastic tubs - for example, chocolate/biscuit tubs, butter/ice-cream tubs,
- plastic toothpaste tubes (also with pump dispenser)
- plastic trays or punnets - for example, raw/cooked meat trays, take-away trays
- plastic scoops/lids - for example, from baby milk tins
- toiletries and skin care containers - for example, shampoo bottles, face cream pots
- dishwasher/washing machine tubs
No thanks:
- stretchy plastics - for example, bread bags, film or bubble-wrap
- black or dark coloured plastics, regardless of what label they have on them, as these cannot yet be recycled
- hard plastic materials such as children’s toys, plastic furniture
- polystyrene, corn-starch-lined or foam packaging - for example, takeaway HP2 infinity trays, packaging used for protecting fragile items
- medicine blister packs
- food/drink pouches
- make-up products (can be disposed of in beauty shops - for example, Boots)
- paint pots
- plant pots (can be disposed of in DIY stores)
It's not currently cost effective for us to recycle these types of plastics, but we'll continue to explore opportunities to increase the amount of plastic we recycle in future.
If you put any other 'mixed plastics' in your recycling, we may not be able to collect it.
See advice on dealing with excess plastic for kerbside collection.
Disposing of 'mixed plastics'
Recycle 'mixed plastics' by using the recycling bank locator to find your nearest plastic recycling bank.
Alternatively, place mixed plastics in your household waste bin.
Recycling metal tins and cans at the kerbside
You can recycle all metal food and drink cans (steel and aluminium).
Metals can be mixed with plastics, aluminium foil, cartons and glass when presenting your recycling.
You don't need to remove labels but should wash them out beforehand. Please crush cans where possible, to save space.
Yes please:
- food tins
- drink cans
- sweet tins, biscuit tins and metal lids
- baby milk tins
- empty aerosol cans, such as hairspray, deodorant, spray paint and shaving foam
No thanks:
- baking trays, metal utensils, coat hangers, cutlery
- paint tins
- crisp tubs - for example, Pringles
See advice on dealing with excess tins and cans for kerbside collection.
Use the recycling bank locator to find your nearest metal/can recycling bank.
Take other metal items to either of our HWRCs for recycling in the scrap metal skips:
Recycling aluminium foil at the kerbside
Aluminium foil is used in lots of packaging materials.
To check whether something that looks like foil can be recycled, scrunch the pack or foil into your hand. If it stays scrunched it’s aluminium and can be recycled, if it springs back open then it’s film and cannot be recycled.
Aluminium foil can be mixed with plastics, metals, cartons and glass when presenting your recycling.
Yes please:
- clean aluminium foil
- aluminium foil trays and dishes - for example, minced pie casing
Make sure the item passes the ‘scrunch test’ and is clean from any food waste.
No thanks:
- crisp packets
- medicine blister packs
See advice on dealing with excess aluminium foil for kerbside collection.
Use the recycling bank locator to find your nearest aluminium foil recycling bank.
Recycling cartons at the kerbside
We now accept a variety of food and drink cartons (wax-lined, poly-lined and foil-lined - for example, Tetra Pak) in your recycling box.
Cartons can be mixed with plastics, metals, aluminium foil and glass when presented for recycling collection.
Just make sure they’re completely empty, rinsed, and flattened, and pop the lids back on (if present) before placing in your recycling box.
Yes please:
- food cartons - for example, soup, passata, tofu, cream, kefir
- drink cartons - for example, fruit juice, milk and plant-based drinks
No thanks:
- coffee/tea cups
- food/drink pouches - for example, baby food, pet food, fruit juice
Recycling glass at the kerbside
You can recycle glass bottles and jars at the kerbside, but you should rinse these out beforehand.
Glass can be mixed with plastics, metals, aluminium foil and cartons when presenting your recycling.
Yes please:
Any colour or size of glass bottle or jar, such as those used for:
- wine, beer, spirits, juice, perfume, aftershave, face creams, vinegar
- sauces, jam, marmalade, baby food, pickles, condiments
No thanks:
- broken glass
- window glass
- drinking glasses and cookware - for example, Pyrex, microwave plates
- ceramics - for example, crockery
- light bulbs
- mirrors
- porcelain - for example, vases
Dispose of these types of glass safely. For example, by donating to charity.
Do not present broken glass for recycling. Dispose of it safely in your household waste bin, for example, by wrapping it in paper or cloth.
See advice on dealing with excess glass for kerbside collection.
Use the recycling bank locator to find your nearest glass recycling bank.
Recycling paper and cardboard at the kerbside
You can recycle clean and dry paper, card and cardboard at the kerbside.
Paper and cardboard must be kept separate from other materials when presenting your recycling.
Yes please:
- cardboard boxes, broken down so they fit in your recycling box
- egg boxes
- newspapers/magazines, telephone directories, catalogues/brochures
- junk mail, leaflets, all envelopes with or without plastic windows
- white/coloured paper
- greetings cards, gift wrapping paper without glitter
- paper bags
- cereal boxes, ready meal boxes
- kitchen/toilet roll tubes, tissue boxes
- card sleeves from food packaging
No thanks:
- shredded paper (we accept it in both of our HWRCs)
- loose excess cardboard which doesn't fit in your recycling box (please do not use cardboard boxes or plastic bags to present excess cardboard)
- all types of cartons - please place in your plastics, metals, aluminium foil and glass recycling (Tetra Paks, soup, chopped tomatoes, custard, fabric conditioner)
- gift wrapping paper with glitter
- waxed paper coffee/tea cups
- books
See advice on dealing with excess paper and cardboard for kerbside collection.
Use the recycling bank locator to find your nearest carton recycling bank.
Recycling which cannot be collected from the kerbside
Some items aren’t suitable for recycling at the kerbside due to the way we collect recycling in York.
Visit our recycle and reuse A to Z for recycling suggestions for many common waste items.
See information on our household waste recycling centres, including items you can take to be recycled or disposed of:
Contaminated recycling
Contamination occurs when incorrect items, such as non-recyclable materials, dirty fast-food packaging, or general waste, are placed in recycling boxes. An item is considered a contaminant if it is in the wrong recycling stream or recycling box, even if it is technically recyclable. For example, textiles, plastic film, or food placed in a box designated for paper and cardboard would be contaminants. Contamination also occurs when recyclable household items are not rinsed before disposal.
We receive income from the recyclable materials we sell to manufacturers for reprocessing. However, contamination can reduce this income, which is why we only collect high-quality materials.
If non-recyclable items are placed in your recycling box, we:
- may have to send an entire lorry load of recycling to be processed as household waste
- may incur additional charges
Reducing contamination helps increase recycling rates. This means less waste will be incinerated, benefiting the environment, and making a real impact in the fight against climate change. Sorting your recycling correctly is important - not only for the planet but also to keep waste collection costs as low as possible.
If a recycling box or communal bin is contaminated with incorrect materials, our crews will place an explanatory sticker on it. Please remove the contaminants and represent the container at the next collection date.
Also see
Waste, Highways and Environmental Services
Waste and recycling collections
Enter your postcode to find out when we'll collect your household waste, kerbside recycling and garden waste.
