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Anything in our red-lidded bins goes to landfill.
Landfill takes up precious land and contributes to climate change, so consider items in your landfill as a last resort.
Before you bin it red, think about these options:
Reduce what you put in the red bin
- Avoid single-use packaging and plastics
- Borrow items instead of buying new e.g. Library of Things
- Plan ahead and use it up to avoid food waste
- Compost food scraps
- Only buy new when essential
Reuse what you can
- BYOing your own reusable containers, cups and cutlery
- Learn to repair items to keep them in use
- Rehome pre-loved clothes, furniture, electricals, tools and toys in good condition
Recycle
- Check if it can go in your yellow or blue bins?
Only then, put it in your last resort landfill red bin
- Single use coffee cups (lids and cups)
- Paper and cardboard coated with food scraps
- Wax-coated paper, greaseproof paper and baking paper
- Soiled disposable nappies
- Used tissues and paper towels
- Broken glass or ceramics (Please wrap in paper or cardboard for safety reasons)
- Polystyrene trays
- Food scraps (if you don’t have home composting, worm farm, or chicken feed)
- Thermal printed paper (eg shopping receipts)
- Black meat trays
- End of life textiles, small household items, toys
Tips
- Bag lightweight waste like sawdust, dust or ash or seal it in a container so it can’t blow around.
- Compost food waste and scraps or feed to chickens
- Rehome pre-loved and good condition clothing, Manchester, furniture and household items. Find out more
- If it doesn’t fit in your bin, book a Bulky Good collection
Dispose elsewhere
- Batteries - household, button batteries, car batteries and batteries in vapes, toys and toothbrushes cause fires
- Butane canisters – highly flammable
- Damaged and full or partially full aerosols (Chemical CleanOut)
- Gas canisters, paint and chemicals (Chemical CleanOut)
- Building materials
- Liquids or hazardous waste
- Polystyrene packaging – special collection
If in doubt – check out our A to Z guide to reuse, recycling and disposal