Rubbish, waste and recycling

In Britain the majority of our waste is sent for burial at landfill sites. Landfill space is a finite resource and needs to be conserved for as long as possible. Recycling and reuse need to become more of a priority for the general population. Recycling also reduces our impact on the environment, which is important for Britain’s future generations. However small our individual contribution to the environment may be, together we can make a positive difference.

Recycling is simple

Collect and sort all your bottles, jars, cans, paper and textiles, and take them to your nearest recycling centre and put them into the appropriate containers.

Interested in buying goods made from recycled materials?

Please visit the Rethink Rubbish Website, found at in the external link box, for their full range of recycled products.

There are other ways our household waste can be reduced:

• Avoiding over packaged goods
• If you don't have your own bag to use e.g.: cotton bag, reuse your plastic bags or buy the ‘bags for life’ at your supermarkets.
• Buying reusable products such as rechargeable batteries

Household waste can be reused and recycled by:

• Composting kitchen and garden waste
  (The Council will provide subsidised Compost Bins)
• Composting your green waste
• Buying returnable/refillable bottles
• Giving items to charity shops
• Repairing broken items
• Buying recycled products, such as paper and tissues

Recycling Guidelines

To help maximize the amount of material recycled in Herefordshire, you can help by following these guidelines: -

• Put only glass bottles/jars in the bottle banks. Plate glass, Pyrex and ceramics can make the whole load unusable.
• Please take the time to sort your glass into the separate colour compartments. Mixing of the bottle colours makes the glass hard to recycle.
• If you can, wash and squash cans before putting them in the bank. Squashing them increases the amount of cans able to fit into one bank, meaning less energy is wasted in transport.
• Please do not put books, cardboard, envelopes or yellow pages into the paper banks, please put them into a cardboard bank.
• If the bank you visit is full please do not leave bags of material outside the banks, as it is unsightly and dangerous. Please inform the Council and we will empty the banks as soon as possible.

For more information visit the Turn the World website.

If you witness anyone dumping large amounts of waste such as furniture, building rubble or anything else which is not one of the items relevant to the recycling banks please try to obtain their Registration Number and contact the Recycling Officer on:

Tel: 01432 261769 or Email: ethelpline@herefordshire.gov.uk