Blue bins (recycling)

In South Tyneside, your blue bin is for recycling.

Inside your blue bin is an inner caddy which can be used for paper.

See more about What you can / can't put in your blue bin.

Collection dates

Blue recycling bins are collected fortnightly from all households who have individual bins.

Find out your bin collection dates.

Other ways to recycle

• Recycling Village
• Recycling sites

Please remember: 

• Wash all materials before placing in your recycling bin; it helps to keep your bin clean and prevents contamination
• Return your bin to your property on the same day after collection
• Please only put the correct items in your recycling bin to prevent contaminating the load
• Squash the materials together before placing in your blue bin for more space
• Do not leave out large items or extra bags as these will not be collected
• Empty cans and bottles before recycling. 
• To save space - Flatten cardboard, cans, plastic bottles, and cartons. 
• Use your old washing up water to clean your tins, bottles, jars and plastics - that way you aren't using extra water. Rinsing out packaging that contained food, drinks or other residues helps prevent the load of recyclables becoming contaminated and rejected at the sorting facility. Rinsing materials also helps prevent flies and your bin getting dirty.

These items cannot go in your blue bin:

• Batteries - no batteries of any kind in any of your bins - see where to recycle batteries
• Disposable nappies - put in your grey household bin only - not in your blue recycling or green garden waste bins
• Garden waste - put this in your green bin if you have subscribed to the service
• Vegetable peelings - use a compost bin or put in your grey household bin
• China (plates, cups, bowls) - if in good condition donate to local charity or wrap carefully and put in your grey household bin
• Hazardous materials including paint, petrol etc
• Pet waste and pet food pouches - put in your grey household bin
• Electrical items
• Hard plastics

These items cannot go in your recycling bin, but can be collected through a Bulky waste collection or recycled at the Recycling Village: 

• Televisions and monitors
• Oil - Engine and cooking oil should be disposed of at the Recycling Village
• Textiles - find out more about Textiles recycling
• Mattresses
• Carpets
• Electrical items

For more detail about what can go in your blue bin, see below.

There are a number of reasons why your bin may not have been emptied:

Contamination

Yellow tape will be left on your blue bin if it contains items that are not recyclable.

You will be asked to check your waste and to remove any items which are not allowed in your blue recycling bin. 

Your bin will not be emptied until the offending items have all been removed, and you will have to wait until your next collection day.

Timing or location

Bins must be placed outside on the edge of your property where it is easily visible and accessible to the collection crew before 7.30am.

Wrong bin

Unfortunately, we can only empty the correct colour bin on collection day. Find out your bin collection dates.

If your space is limited, you could share a bin with your neighbours or others in your street.

Or you could request a smaller bin.

To discuss possible solutions, contact us on 0191 427 7000 or email us at recycle@southtyneside.gov.uk.

If you put non-recyclables in your blue bin (such as food waste, nappies, take away boxes), these items will contaminate the rest of the items in the bin.

It is also important to place paper into the inner caddy and all other materials like glass jars and cardboard boxes into the main part of your recycling bin.  

What happens if your blue bin is contaminated:

• Your bin will not be emptied.
• A yellow tag will be placed on the lid of your bin. 
• You will be asked to check your waste and to remove any items which are not allowed in your blue recycling bin.
• Your bin will not be emptied until the offending items have all been removed, and you will have to wait until your next collection day.

Why items with food, liquid or grease cannot be recycled: 

• Items that have left over food or liquid on them can ruin the rest of the recycling in the lorries and at the sorting plant.
• Items that have left over food or grease on them cannot be recycled - this includes takeaway pizza boxes. The grease cannot be separated during the recycling process and one box can ruin a whole load.

Why it's important not to put wrong items in your blue recycling bin:

• If every household put just one wrong material in their recycling bin that cannot be recycled such as food, nappies or pet waste, it may result in entire loads of potential recyclable materials being rejected.
• There is a further cost to the council to arrange for the disposal of the rejected load at a much higher cost than the cost of the recycling.

Why you need to separate paper by placing it into the caddy:

• Paper is collected separately from the other materials so it can be transported to the paper mill direct for reprocessing without the need for the separation processes.

Why it's important to keep your recycled items dry:

• It's important to keep your recycled items dry and your bin lid closed. No wet paper or cardboard should go in the bin and you should empty all cans and bottles before recycling.
• If your recycling gets wet, the paper and cardboard will stick to any glass items. This means we cannot recycle these items anymore.
• Wet paper and cardboard can also stick to the machinery and clog up the system at the recycling plant. Therefore, we cannot remove wet cardboard placed next to your bin either.