What you can and can't recycle in Nottingham City Council brown grey-lidded bins

These are the only items to put in your brown, grey-lidded bin (remove all food, liquid, and any other contents, and rinse clean before recycling) - please keep everything else out: 

• Plastic packaging bottles and cartons - all shapes and sizes, with lids, nozzles, pumps, rollers, or pourers
• Plastic packaging including fruit punnets, margarine tubs, yoghurt and sauce pots, meat trays, and spread jars
• Glass bottles including perfume and jars including toiletries
• Paper including magazines and non-glittery wrapping paper, and clean cardboard (if no food or grease)
• Metal packaging including cans, tins, aerosols, puree tubes, foil trays, and foil

But what about...?

Coffee cups
No. The plastic liner is difficult to remove, and unlike foil-lined cartons (tetrapak) which has an established end market, there are very few re-processors, so it is only economical to recycle coffee cups that have been collected in bulk at dedicated recycling points.

Toothpaste tubes, coffee pods, or other mixed material items
When multiple materials are forged together (such as laminated metal) it’s usually not possible or practical to separate them again, and there are very limited options for new items made from the new composite.

Clothes and shoes
These become dirty or damaged by the residue on recycling, and by the collection and sorting process - reuse if possible, or take to a donation bank. 

Carrier bags and plastic film
Not currently recycled at home due to limited end markets, but this is expanding quickly and from April 2027 all councils will be collecting film alongside mixed recycling - so look out for more information over the coming year.

Electrical items and batteries
These should be recycled via their own recycling collection points - they’re just not suitable for the sorting machinery and batteries are highly dangerous when crushed.

Pots, pans, cutlery, or other metal items
Often too thick for crushing machinery, and made of mixed materials - reuse if possible, or take to the Recycling Centre.

Toys, laundry baskets, coat hangers, or other plastic items
There are SO many different plastic types - so the industry focuses on collecting only the most common and easily recycled ones from households - this puts the most recycled material back into the packaging market.

Drinking glasses, glass dishes, jugs, vases, mirrors, or other glass items
It might all look similar, but different types of glass are made in different ways, using different ratios of raw materials, and re-melt at different temperatures - so we can’t recycle it all the same way.

This information is for Nottingham City Council residents and neighbouring areas may vary. It was correct at the time of publication (October 2025). 

You can also visit the Nottingham City Council Recycling webpage to search for any item and find out how to recycle or dispose of it