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 - recycling should also not be placed within plastic bags)
Plastic toys
Plastic wrapping
Polystyrene
Rubble
Sanitary products
Shredded paper
Wallpaper
Wood

Helpful tips for 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)

Weekly food recycling

What can go in your food recycling caddy

Fish and meat bones
100% compostable liners (with the seedling logo)
Cooked and uncooked food (including meat)
Egg shells
General food waste
Coffee grounds

What can't go in your food recycling caddy

Plastic bags or liners
General rubbish (e.g. packaging)
Garden waste (including leaves, house plants and soil)
Pet waste
Liquids (e.g. oil, milk)

Stopping smells

To help with any smells, use hot water or a fragranced cleaning product to regularly rinse your caddies and deter flies. Your smaller silver kitchen caddy is dishwasher safe.

You should also:

put food waste in a 100% compostable liner, compostable paper bag or wrap tightly in newspaper
squeeze the air out of compostable bags that contain food before they are tied and put in the outdoor caddy
keep caddy lids closed and secure using the handle
keep the caddy out of direct sunlight in hot weather to avoid heating the waste
not leave food waste lying around the home before putting it in the caddy

By following the advice above, you should reduce the chance of finding flies and maggots in your caddies.

Shared food waste bins for flats

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.

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.

Grey rubbish bins and sacks

You can throw away rubbish in a:

grey lidded rubbish bin
grey rubbish sack
shared rubbish bin

What can go in your rubbish bin or sack

Foil
Polystyrene
Pet bedding and pet food pouches
Pyrex glass and ceramics
Nappies and tissues
Plastic film and bags
Shredded paper

What can't go in your rubbish bin or sack

Corrosive products
Rubble and hardcore (bricks and tiles)
Items from household building and renovation works
Paint
Oil (small amounts of cooking oil may be placed in a sealed container and disposed of in the general waste bin or taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre. Engine oil may also be taken to Barrowell Green Recycling Centre)
Hazardous waste