Refuse + recycling 

Brown bin (plastic bottles, glass bottles + jars, tins and aluminium foil)

  • Glass bottles + glass jars (any colour)
  • Tins + cans (including aerosol cans)
  • Aluminium foil (including foil trays)
  • Plastic bottles eg milk bottles, washing-up liquid bottles, shampoo bottles
  • Plastic food pots, trays + tubs
  • Chocolate + biscuit tins

All items must be clean before putting in the bin. 

Blue bin (paper + cardboard)

  • Magazines + newspapers
  • Leaflets, junk mail + catalogues
  • Telephone directories (including yellow pages)
  • Paper and cardboard
  • Clean food + drink cardboard cartons
  • Envelopes + birthday cards
  • Some types of paper wrapping paper (not foil based)

Green bin (food + garden waste)

  • Left-over food of any type (bread, egg shells, fruit and vegetables incl fruit stones)
  • Tea bags + coffee grounds
  • Cooked/raw meat including bones, flowers + plants
  • Grass + hedge cuttings
  • Leaves, twigs + small branches

Do not put these items in your green recycling bin:

  • Food containers + packaging
  • Plastic bags
  • Plant pots
  • Soil + stones

Food waste should initially be put in a compostable bag in a kitchen caddy + the following procedure followed:

  • Line your kitchen caddy using one of the compostable bags provided. (please do not use any other bags)
  • Fill the caddy with food waste.
  • Every few days tie up your bag + place it in the green bin.

If you need more compostable bags, you can buy them at a supermarket or follow the guidance on the Manchester City council website. 

Black bin (non-recyclable rubbish)

The general refuse black bin is only for rubbish which cannot be recycled in any of the above three recycling bins. It is only emptied once every two weeks and it will not be emptied if it is overflowing (ie if the lid does not close properly). Accordingly you must make use of the recycling bins correctly or you will find that you do not have enough room for all your rubbish.

General

Please do not use plastic bags to dispose of recyclable materials in any of the three recycling bins (brown, blue and green) – just put all your recycling straight in to the appropriate bin.