What can I recycle in my green bin?

The main things that can go in your green recycling bin are:

• Paper and cardboard
• Metal cans - drinks cans, food tins etc
• Empty aerosols - deodorant etc
• Aluminium foil - takeaway trays, scrunched up clean foil etc
• Plastics - with number 1, 2, 4 and 5 (but not if they are black or brown)
• Stretchy plastic bags (such as bread bags)
• Tetrapaks and similar food and drink cartons

You can find more detail - and a full list of things that can and can’t go in your green bin on the Council website.

Kathryn from Leeds Recycles recently did a Live Q & A on our Facebook page - answering all your questions about recycling in Leeds. You can watch below - and a summary of her responses is here.

When you're recycling, the main things to remember are:

• Keep it clean - give things like plastics and cans a rinse before recycling
• Keep things dry - leave your clean things to dry before putting them in your bin. If card and paper gets wet in your bin, it’s hard to recycle.
• Pack things in - if your bin’s getting full, break down boxes, stamp on cans and plastic bottles - to fit as much in as you can.

A recent study suggested that 15% of what gets put in black bins in Leeds should be going into green bins! So we're very grateful to everyone who makes the effort to recycle as much as they can!