What goes in your bins

Blue recycling bins and sacks

What can go in your recycling bins or sacks

Empty aerosols (deodorant cans, furniture polish)
Food tins and drink cans
Glass bottles and jars
Paper and card (junk mail, magazines, newspapers, telephone directories, corrugated cardboard, cereal packets, shoe boxes)
Drink cartons (fruit juice, milk and soup cartons)
Plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays (margarine tubs, yoghurt pots and fruit trays)

What can't go in your recycling bins or sacks

Ceramics
Clinical waste
Clothes or shoes
Dirty containers
Electrical items
Foil
Foil containers
Food and garden waste
General rubbish
Light bulbs or broken glass
Meat trays
Nappies or tissues
Plastic bags (any type)
Plastic toys
Plastic wrapping
Polystyrene
Recycling in tied plastic bags (any type)
Rubble
Sanitary products
Shredded paper
Wallpaper
Wood

Helpful ideas for your recycling:

flatten cans, bottles and boxes to save space
rinse your plastic bottles, food containers, trays and cartons in your old washing-up water
have another bin or box in your kitchen for recyclable items

Shoes, textiles and electrical items can't be placed in your blue lidded recycling bin. These can be taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre.

We have teamed up with TRAID, Clearabee and Barnet Furniture Centre, so that residents can contact them for free doorstep collections of textiles, shoes, furniture and some electrical items.

Arrange a free textiles collection with TRAID

Arrange a free electrical collection by phoning Clearabee

Arrange a free furniture or electrical collection with Barnet Furniture Centre (items need to be in good condition and from areas neighbouring Barnet)

You can also find out what happens to your recycling.

For a printable version of the above recycling list, see our leaflet (PDF). You can also see our flats above shops leaflet (PDF).

We will not collect your recycling bin or sack if it contains the wrong items because they may make the other items unsuitable for recycling. All recycling must be clean and dry.

If you are not in estate housing, our crew will place a sticker on your bin or sack to notify you if there are any incorrect items. You should remove the incorrect items and we will collect your recycling on the next collection date.

All the items we collect for recycling are sent to a sorting facility in Edmonton and then on for specialist re-processing to be turned into new products. For more information on how items are recycled and composted, visit Recycle Now.

Contamination of recycling

Sometimes recycling collected by us is refused at the sorting plant due to the wrong items being put in blue lidded recycling bins. Dirty items also results in nearly a thousand tonnes of recycling being thrown away each year.

If you have unwanted clothes or shoes, giving them to a charity shop is an excellent way of reusing items rather than throwing them away. Wearable clothes and shoes donated to charity shops are sold to raise money for good causes or sent overseas to those in need.

Items can also be placed in any of the 30 recycling banks located throughout Enfield, or taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre in Winchmore Hill for reuse or recycling.

As well as recycling unwanted clothing, you can reuse and recycle other textiles such as:

towels
sheets
bedding
blankets
soft furnishings

We do not accept dirty items or any of the below items if they are placed in your blue lidded recycling bin:

For tips on how to recycle right, see our recycling leaflet (PDF).

What happens if you contaminate your blue lidded recycling bin

If you contaminate your bin once:

it will not be emptied and will be given a sticker stating the reason
you will need to remove the incorrect items from your bin in order for the recycling to be collected on your next scheduled collection day
a warning letter specifying that you are in breach of section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act, will be sent to your address if your bin contained nappies, food waste, textiles and bags of general waste.

If you contaminate your bin again within a 12-month period, the above actions will be taken once more. We may also decide to serve a Notice of Intent to issue a £60 Fixed Penalty Notice on the occupier. You will still be given a sticker on your bin and will need to remove the incorrect items before your next collection day.

Recycling contamination policy (PDF)

Rubbish and recycling FAQs (PDF)

Green garden and food waste bins

What can go in your garden and food waste bin

Fish and meat bones
Compostable bags (with the seedling symbol)
Cooked and uncooked food (including meat)
Egg shells
General food waste
Leaves and small branches (up to 10cm in diameter)
Tea bags and coffee grounds

What can't go in your garden and food waste bin

Soil
General rubbish
General recycling
Cooking oil (small amounts of cooking oil may be placed in a sealed container and disposed of in the general rubbish bin or taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre. Engine oil may also be taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre)
Dog waste and pet litter
Logs (greater than 10cm in diameter)
Japanese knotweed (visit GOV.UK for guidance to dispose of Japanese knotweed and prevent it from spreading)
Shredded paper
Manufactured wood (treated or untreated)

For a printable version of this list, see garden and food waste (PDF).

We will not collect your garden and food waste bin if it contains the wrong items because they may make the other items unsuitable for recycling.

Our crew will place a sticker on your garden and food waste bin to notify you if there are any incorrect items. You should remove the incorrect items and we will then collect your bin on the next collection date.

Garden and food waste is taken to a composting facility and turned into fertiliser.

For more information on how items are recycled and composted, visit Recycle Now.

Preventing smells and maggots

To help with any smells, use boiling water or a fragranced cleaning product to regularly rinse your bin and deter flies. You should also:

put food waste in a compostable bag with the seedling symbol or wrap tightly in newspaper
squeeze the air out of compostable bags that contain food waste before they are tied and put in the bin
keep the bin lid tightly closed
keep the bin out of direct sunshine in hot weather to avoid heating the rubbish and increasing smells
not leave food waste lying around the home before putting it in the bin
layer grass clippings with other woody types of garden rubbish

Flies can only lay eggs if they have the chance to land on unwrapped and uncontained food. By following the guidance above, the opportunity for flies to lay eggs is limited, which should mean maggots can be avoided.

Shared food waste bins

What can go in the shared food waste bin

Compostable bags (with the seed logo)
Cooked and uncooked food (including meat)
Egg shells
General food waste
Fish and meat bones
Tea bags and coffee grounds

What can't go in the shared food waste bin

General rubbish
General recycling
Garden waste
Cooking oil (small amounts of cooking oil may be placed in a sealed container and disposed of in the general rubbish bin or taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre. Engine oil may also be taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre)
Dog waste and pet litter
Shredded paper

For a printable version of this list, see our leaflet (PDF).

We will not collect your shared food waste bin if it contains the wrong items because they may make the other items unsuitable for recycling.