Recycling rules for Glasgow City
Based on Glasgow City published guidance · Last verified March 2026
Search what goes in your bins →Recycling
Accepted
Paper & Card
- Newspapers and magazines — Blue bin — loose, no bags
- Envelopes and junk mail — Blue bin
- Shredded paper — Blue bin
- Paperback books — Blue bin — or donate to charity
- Greetings cards and wrapping paper — Blue bin
- Clean pizza boxes — Blue bin — must be clean
- Egg boxes and toilet roll tubes — Blue bin
- Cereal boxes and food sleeves — Blue bin
- Cardboard boxes — Blue bin — flatten
Plastics
- Plastic bottles — Grey bin
- Plastic pots, tubs and trays — Grey bin
- Soft plastics and film — Grey bin — wrapping, carrier bags
Other
- Plastic and metal lids — Grey bin
- Food and drink cartons — Grey bin — Tetra Pak
Metals
- Tins and cans — Grey bin
- Empty aerosol cans — Grey bin
- Clean aluminium foil and foil trays — Grey bin — must be clean
- Sweet and biscuit tins — Grey bin — metal and plastic
Glass
- Glass bottles and jars — Purple bin — lids can stay on
Not accepted
- Items covered in food or liquid — Contaminates clean recyclables
- Bubble wrap or polystyrene — Not recyclable kerbside
- Plastic liners in cereal boxes — Not recyclable kerbside
- Padded envelopes — Mixed materials
- Tissues or kitchen towels — Contaminated paper products
- Wallpaper — Not recyclable kerbside
- Disposable coffee cups — Lined with non-recyclable plastic
- Hardback books — Glued binding not recyclableInstead: Donate to charity
- Oil or paint cans — Hazardous wasteInstead: Take to recycling centre
- Metal pots, pans or trays — Not recyclable kerbside
- Nappies — General waste only
- Light bulbs — Contains hazardous materialsInstead: Take to recycling centre
- Drinking glasses, plates and cups — Different glass type to bottles
- Pyrex glass — Different melting point to glass
- Batteries — Contains hazardous materialsInstead: Take to battery recycling point
- Electrical items — Contains hazardous partsInstead: Take to recycling centre
Common mistakes
- Coffee cups→ goes in General Waste — Plastic lining makes them non-recyclable
- Pyrex glass→ goes in General Waste — Different melting point to glass
- Metal pots and pans — Take to recycling centre
- Batteries — Take to a battery recycling point
- Tissues→ goes in General Waste — Contaminated paper product
Tips (12)
- • Blue bin: paper and card
- • Grey bin: plastics and cans
- • Glass in purple bin only
- • No items in plastic bags
- • Clean pizza boxes accepted
- • No coffee cups
- • Soft plastics in grey bin
- • Lids can stay on bottles
- • Rinse foil before recycling
- • No polystyrene packaging
- • Flatten cardboard boxes
- • No batteries in any bin
Food Waste
Accepted
- Dairy products
- Meat and bones
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Bread, cakes and pastries
- Rice and pasta
- Fish
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
Not accepted
- General waste — Use black bin
- Bin liners and plastic bags — Only compostable caddy liners allowed
- Soil — Not compostable in this process
- Litter — Use black bin
- Stones and rubble — Not compostable
- Animal waste — Not accepted in food waste
Common mistakes
- Plastic bags as liners→ goes in General Waste — Use compostable caddy liners only
- Compostable packaging→ goes in General Waste — Not accepted in food waste
Tips (8)
- • No bin liners in brown bin
- • Meat and bones accepted
- • All cooked food goes in
- • Tea bags go in brown bin
- • Dairy products accepted
- • No soil in brown bin
- • Use compostable liner only
- • Fish and bones accepted
Source: Glasgow City council website. Check your council's site for the latest updates.
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