Recycling A-Z

Grey household bin

Blue recycling bin

Blue recycling bin, Recycling sites

Put in your grey household bin or taken to the Recycling Village. Air beds are made from plastics that cannot be recycled.

Donate fully working alarm clocks to a local charity shop.

If your alarm clock is electrical, take to a Recycling site which has an electrical goods section.

If your alarm clock is not electrical, put in your grey household bin.

Hay, straw and sawdust - put in your grey household bin.

Pet blankets, towels and beds made from fabric - take to a Recycling site which has a textile bank.

All plastic shampoo, bubble bath, moisturisers and cardboard toothpaste boxes can be recycled in the main part of your blue recycling bin, or take to one of our Recycling sites. Don't forget to rinse plastic bottles first.

Razors, cotton buds, cotton wool and toothpaste tubes cannot be recycled and must be disposed of in your grey household bin.

If you are having a new bathroom professionally installed, the contractor should remove your old suite free of charge. This type of waste includes baths, sinks and toilets.

If you don't have a contractor you can take the suite to the Recycling Village for disposal or alternatively arrange for a Council house and business clearance or a bulky waste collection.

Bath towels cannot be recycled in your blue recycling bin.

If these are in good condition, donate to a local charity, or recycle at a textile bank at one of our Recycling sites.

If the towel is in poor condition, please dispose of in your grey household bin.

Dispose of at one of our textile Recycling sites or at the Recycling Village.

If in good condition, donate to a local charity.

Birthday cards with glitter, glue, metallic or 3D decoration cannot be recycled. Please dispose of these in your grey household bin.

Plain birthday cards can be recycled in the main part of your blue recycling bin.

NO plastic bags of any kind can go in the blue recycling or green garden bin. Do NOT use plastic bags to separate any materials within the recycling or garden bins.

The materials are sent to a sorting facility where the items which can't be identified are removed from the sorting line. Staff cannot for health and safety reasons open and identify whether these bags are full of recyclable materials or full of food scraps, nappies etc. There are three different types of plastic bags biodegradable, degradable and compostable. The problem is that identifying these bags is very difficult and can cause a number of problems when recycling.

Large appliances can be collected through a bulky waste collection or taken to the Recycling Village.

Alternatively, if the furniture is in good condition you can donate to a local charity or sell them through ads or classifieds.

Large items of furniture can be taken to the Recycling Village. If you have difficulties taking these items to the Recycling Village these can be collected through a bulky waste collection. Alternatively, if the furniture is in good condition you can donate to a local charity or sell them through ads and classifieds.

Do NOT fly-tip or leave items outside in back lanes or on footpaths. This is illegal and causes a number of problems for the Borough.

Glass bottles and jars can be rinsed and placed into the main part of your blue recycling bin or taken to the Recycling Village. Remove all corks, metal lids or plastic tops before recycling.

Window pane glass, mirrors, glass from picture frames, photo frames, broken glass tumblers, light bulbs, spectacles, ceramics or glass ovenware such as Pyrex dishes cannot be recycled through the blue recycling bin.

NEVER put broken glass into your recycling bin. Dispose of this carefully through your grey household bin.

PLEASE wrap glass carefully in newspaper and ensure that the lid is closed fully. This is to prevent injury to the collection crew.

You can remove the hard plastic casing and place it in the main part of your blue recycling bin. You can dispose of the plastic outer casing in the plastic outer casing in the plastic container at our Recycling Village.

Every pharmacy in South Tyneside now has a specially labelled inhaler bin on display. Many patients can make an even bigger difference by switching to eco-friendly dry powder inhalers for most of their needs. While one blue inhaler makes the same climate change impact as driving from South Shields to Liverpool, a dry powder inhaler is equivalent to driving from Shields to Jarrow.

Paper, newspapers, brochures, catalogues and junk mail can all be recycled in the inner caddy of your blue recycling bin, or at one of our Recycling sites. Shredded paper can be disposed of in your inner caddy but it must be wrapped in newspaper or weighed down.

Laminated paper, foil, glitter or foil wrapping paper cannot be recycled in the blue recycling bin and must be disposed of in the grey household bin.

NO pet waste of any kind can go in the blue recycling bin. Please wrap and dispose of in your grey household bin.

Fish tanks / aquariums - do NOT place these in the blue recycling bin. Wrap carefully and dispose of through your grey household bin. The glass used is thick and cannot be melted and reused.

Pet bedding - please dispose of through your grey household bin.

You can place these in your green garden bin or be composted in your compost bin. Alternatively, you can take to the Recycling Village.
Plants cannot be recycled in your blue recycling bin. This will contaminate all of the materials.

Plastic bottles and food containers can be recycled in the main part of your blue recycling bin. These include water bottles, pop bottles, milk bottles, shampoo bottles, margarine tubs, yoghurt pots etc. Do not place items in plastic bags to separate them. Please remove the plastic lids and these can go into your blue recycling bin.

Plastic chairs or tables can be taken to the Recycling Village. Do NOT place these items in your blue recycling bin.

No plastic carrier bags of any kind should go in your blue recycling or green garden bin. Please re-use bags or recycle at allocated banks outside supermarkets.

Do NOT use plastic bags to separate materials in the blue recycling or green garden bin. Items must be kept loose. Plastic bags cannot be recycled through the South Tyneside Council scheme.

You can place these in your green garden bin or to these can be composted in a compost bin. Alternatively, these can be taken to the Recycling Village.

No plants can be recycled in your blue, recycling bin.

You can donate old sofa/settees to a local charity or sell them through a classified or online advert. Alternatively, you can arrange for a bulky waste collection ring 427 7000 for more information.

Please do not leave these items in back lanes. Fly tipping is illegal.

Shoes which are in good condition can be donated to a local charity, taken to a clothes bank outside supermarkets or at the Recycling Village. Alternatively shoes can be disposed of through your grey household bin.

Do not put shoes in your blue recycling bin.

Most takeaway boxes and containers cannot be recycled. Paper and cardboard containers should only be recycled if they are completely free of food/grease. Takeaway cardboard boxes contain grease which contaminates other items in the recycling bin.

Polystyrene containers go in your grey household bin.

Traditional brown paper can be recycled in the inner caddy of the blue recycling bin. Please remove any sticky tape before recycling.

Any other wrapping paper - foil, glitter or laminated cannot be recycled as this causes problems at the recycling facility. Wrapping paper can be disposed of through your grey household bin.