Recycling rules for Charnwood
Based on Charnwood published guidance · Last verified October 2026
Under Simpler Recycling, councils across England are standardising collections. Here's what currently goes in each bin in Charnwood.
Search what goes in your bins →Quick answers for Charnwood
Polystyrene: Goes in your recycling bin
Cardboard: Goes in your recycling bin
Shredded paper: Goes in your recycling bin
Tins and cans: Goes in your recycling bin
Aerosols: Goes in your recycling bin
Drink cartons: Goes in your recycling bin
TetraPak.
Your bins in Charnwood, by colour
Container colours as published by Charnwood. Some homes get a different container. See the notes.
Green bin
Recycling
Green is the recycling colour in 15 of the 66 councils with a checked recycling colour.
Clear sacks for extra recycling alongside
Brown bin
Garden waste
Brown is the garden waste colour in 64 of the 114 councils with a checked garden waste colour.
Availability: annual fee subscription
Grey caddy
Food waste
Grey is the food waste colour in 14 of the 49 councils with a checked food waste colour.
Availability: shared bin stores join in 2027
Light grey 23-litre outdoor caddy
Black bin
Non recyclable items
Black is the general rubbish colour in 40 of the 78 councils with a checked general rubbish colour.
What goes in each bin
Recycling
Accepted
What can go in your green bin or bag:
- Bottles · Lids will be taken, please screw them back on
- Jars · Lids will be taken, please screw them back on
- Clean foil
- Drink cans
- Empty aerosol cans
- Food tins
- Metal biscuit or chocolate tins
- Carrier bags, packaging film, cling film and bubble wrap · Clean
- Detergent bottles
- Egg cartons
- Clear food trays and fruit punnets · Including the lids
- Margarine and ice cream tubs
- Shampoo and shower gel bottles
- Yogurt pots
- Books (softback and hardback - try to reuse or donate where possible)
- Cardboard boxes (please flatten the boxes and remove any sticky tape, strings or polystyrene)
- Cardboard toilet and kitchen rolls
- Catalogues
- Clean pizza boxes
- Envelopes
- Food and drink cartons · TetraPak
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Shredded paper
- Wrapping paper (but not the metallic type)
- Yellow pages
- Broken bottles and jars
Not accepted
What not to recycle:
- Nappies (please place in general waste)Instead: Place in general waste
- Used light bulbsInstead: Take to the tip
Tips (4)
How to present your recycling:
- • Flatten cardboard* and cartons – keep it dry
- • Place lids back on all bottles, jars and cartons
- • Items should go in loose
- • All packaging should be empty
Garden Waste
Accepted
What goes in the brown bin?
- Grass cuttings
- Leaves
- Small twigs · Up to 50mm
- Hedge trimmings
- Raw fruit and vegetables directly from the garden
- Weeds and old garden or houseplants
- Flowers
Not accepted
Please do not put any of the following in the brown bin:
- Wood ash
- Plant pots, wire ties, seed trays
- Plastic, glass or metal
- Wood shavings
- Gravel or stones
- Soil or turf
- Logs and thick branches
- Meat waste and bones
- Fish or cooked food
- Animal bedding
- Please note: Unfortunately, no biodegradable products should be placed into our brown bin
We don't have checked food waste guidance for Charnwood yet.
See Charnwood's own guidanceHow Charnwood compares
- Charnwood takes plastic bags at the kerbside (“Carrier bags, packaging film, cling film and bubble wrap”). Of the 119 councils whose lists say either way, 93 do not.
- Charnwood takes plastic film at the kerbside (“Carrier bags, packaging film, cling film and bubble wrap”). Of the 102 councils whose lists say either way, 84 do not.
Next door
In Leicester the garden waste bin is green (brown here).
In Rushcliffe the recycling bin is blue (green here), the general rubbish bin grey (black here) and the garden waste bin green (brown here). Shredded paper goes in the recycling in Charnwood but not in Rushcliffe. Plastic bags go in the recycling in Charnwood but not in Rushcliffe.
Neighbouring councils we have checked: Leicester, Blaby, Hinckley and Bosworth, Rushcliffe.
When are bins collected in Charnwood?
This page covers what goes in each bin. Collection days are set by the council and vary by street. See how to find your bin collection day, or browse streets by postcode to see schedules your neighbours have added.
Bank holidays, in Charnwood’s own words: “Refuse, recycling and garden waste collections will not be affected by the Bank Holiday.” See the council’s page →
In Charnwood’s own words: “Your food waste caddy will be collected every week on the same day as your green or black bin. (depending which bin week it is for you)”
Garden waste collections pause over Christmas.
No streets in Charnwood on BinBosh yet: be the first to add yours, and your neighbours can adopt it instead of setting up their own.
How we checked this page
We read 9 pages of Charnwood’s website on 29 October 2026 and checked each of the 58 facts on this page against the council’s own words before publishing it.
One fact on this page names a date; we check it again by 29 October 2027.
Source: Charnwood council website. Check your council’s site for the latest updates.
Frequently asked questions
What colour are the bins in Charnwood?
In Charnwood the recycling bin is green, the food waste caddy is grey, the garden waste bin is brown and the general rubbish bin is black. Green is the recycling colour in 15 of the 66 councils with a checked recycling colour.
Is garden waste collected all year in Charnwood?
Garden waste collections pause over Christmas.
What goes in the recycling bin in Charnwood?
Charnwood’s recycling bin takes “Bottles”, “Jars” and “Broken bottles and jars”, among other things.
See the full recycling listWork for Charnwood? See how BinBosh helps councils →
Never guess which bin
Get free reminders the night before your bins go out.