Recycling rules for Cambridge
Based on Cambridge published guidance · Last verified March 2026
Under Simpler Recycling, councils across England are standardising collections. Here's what currently goes in each bin in Cambridge.
Search what goes in your bins →Recycling
Accepted
Paper & Card
- Paper, newspapers and magazines — Blue bin
- Envelopes — Blue bin
- Cardboard — Blue bin — flatten
- Greeting cards — Blue bin
- Wrapping paper — Blue bin — no metallic plastic
- Shredded paper — Blue bin — in paper or clean plastic bag
Other
- Cartons — Blue bin — Tetra Pak
Plastics
- Empty plastic bags — Blue bin — not black bin bags
- Plastic packets and wrappers — Blue bin — bread bags, pasta bags
- Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays — Blue bin — no black plastic
Metals
- Food and drinks cans — Blue bin
- Empty aerosols — Blue bin
- Tinfoil and foil trays — Blue bin
- Biscuit and sweet tins — Blue bin
Glass
- Glass jars and bottles — Blue bin
Not accepted
- Food — Goes in green bin
- Liquids — Empty containers first
- Nappies — Goes in black bin
- Clothes, textiles or shoes — Charity shops or clothing banks
- Expanded polystyrene — Goes in black bin
- Foam and sponge — Goes in black bin
- Non-packaging plastic — Toys, bowls — black bin
- Metallic plastic wrappers — Crisp packets — black bin
- Black bin bags — Not accepted in recycling
- Flat glass or mirrors — Different type to bottle glass
- Pyrex — Different type to bottle glass
- Kitchen paper and tissues — Goes in green bin
- Dirty packaging — Rinse first or black bin
- Paint tins — Not accepted in any bin
Common mistakes
- Batteries — Tied bag on top of any bin lid
- Crisp packets→ goes in General Waste — Metallic lining — black bin
- Plastic toys and bowls→ goes in General Waste — Non-packaging plastic — black bin
Tips (12)
- • All recycling in blue bin
- • No black plastic accepted
- • No metallic wrappers
- • Flatten cardboard
- • Rinse dirty packaging
- • Plastic bags OK if empty
- • Shredded paper in a bag
- • No polystyrene or foam
- • No flat glass or mirrors
- • No Pyrex in blue bin
- • No black bin bags
- • Batteries on top of lid
Garden Waste
Accepted
- Garden waste — Grass cuttings, leaves
- Untreated wood
- Straw and sawdust
- Food waste — Wrap in paper bags or newspaper
- Used paper tissues and kitchen paper
- Cooled wood ash — Bagged in paper sack
Not accepted
- Any plastic — Not compostable
- Compostable plastic bags — Not accepted despite labelling
- Cat or dog waste — Not compostable in this service
- Soil, stones or turf — Not organic waste
- Treated wood — Contains chemicals
- Rubble — Not organic waste
- Loose ash or coal ash — Must be cooled and bagged
Common mistakes
- Compostable bags→ goes in General Waste — Not accepted — use paper bags instead
Tips (8)
- • Green bin for garden+food
- • Wrap food in newspaper
- • No plastic of any kind
- • No compostable bags
- • No pet waste
- • Paper tissues go in green
- • Cool ash before binning
- • No soil, stones or turf
Source: Cambridge council website. Check your council's site for the latest updates.
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