Recycling rules for Sandwell
Based on Sandwell published guidance · Last verified September 2026
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Under Simpler Recycling, councils across England are standardising collections. Here's what currently goes in each bin in Sandwell.
Search what goes in your bins →Quick answers for Sandwell
Polystyrene: Not accepted in Sandwell's recycling bin
Grey bin or the tip on Shidas Lane.
Cardboard: Goes in your paper & card bin
Large pieces: fold, remove tape, put beside bag.
Glass bottles and jars: Goes in your recycling bin
Blue lid bin.
Food waste: Sandwell has a separate food waste collection
Takes meat, fish and shellfish, bones and shells and more.
Tins and cans: Goes in your recycling bin
Blue lid bin.
Clothes: Not accepted in Sandwell's recycling bin
Local charity shop or a charity textile collection.
Your bins in Sandwell, by colour
Grey bin
Non-recycling
Standard 180 litres; flats and apartments have communal bins
Blue bin
Glass, cans, tins and plastics
Blue is the recycling colour in 35 of the 91 councils with a checked recycling colour.
Availability: Not flats or apartments (communal bins)
Blue lid; flats and apartments have communal bins
Blue bag
Paper, cardboard and cartons
Blue is the paper and card colour in 20 of the 34 councils with a checked paper and card colour.
Availability: Not flats or apartments (communal bins)
Flats and apartments have communal bins
Brown bin
Food waste
Brown is the food waste colour in 26 of the 74 councils with a checked food waste colour.
Availability: Sign up online; not flats or apartments
Sign-up service; flats and apartments have communal bins
What goes in each bin
Recycling
Accepted
Metals
- Food tins and drink cans · Blue lid bin · Symbol guide
- Empty aerosols · Blue lid bin · UK basics
- Foil · Blue lid bin · UK basics
Glass
- Glass bottles and jars · Blue lid bin · Symbol guide
Plastics
- Plastic bottles, tubs and food trays · Blue lid bin · Symbol guide
Not accepted
- NappiesInstead: Non-recycling (grey) bin or a purple (nappy) bag
- Clothes and fabrics · UK basicsInstead: Local charity shop or a charity textile collection
- Paint tins or cans
- Crisps, biscuits or sweet wrappersInstead: Non-recycling grey bin
- Hard plastics like furniture or toysInstead: Non-recycling grey bin
- DIY, garden and chemical bottles
- Plastic bags · UK basicsInstead: Non-recycling grey bin
- Cling film and other plastic film · UK basicsInstead: Non-recycling grey bin
- Polystyrene · UK basicsInstead: Grey bin or the tip on Shidas Lane
- Drinking glasses, pyrex and glass dishes
- Liquids
Common mistakes
- Paper, cardboard and cartons → goes in Paper & Card · Recycling (blue) bag, kept separate from the blue lid bin · Symbol guide
- Food waste → goes in Food Waste · Food waste (brown) bin
- Garden waste → goes in Garden Waste · Compost it, take it to the tip or use a garden bin
- Batteries · Clear bag on top of the blue lid bin on collection day · UK basics
Tips (16)
- • Blue lid: glass, cans, plastic
- • Paper and card: blue bag
- • Empty aerosols are accepted
- • Foil is accepted
- • No plastic bags in the bin
- • No crisp or sweet wrappers
- • No cling film
- • No polystyrene
- • No hard plastics or toys
- • No drinking glasses or pyrex
- • No nappies: use the grey bin
- • No paint tins or cans
- • Close the lid flat
- • Out by 5.30am on bin day
- • Collected every other week
- • Wrong items? Bin not emptied
Food Waste
Accepted
- Meat
- Fish and shellfish · Raw and cooked
- Bones and shells
- Egg products · Including eggshells
- Dairy
- Bread, cakes and other baked goods
- Pasta and rice
- Beans and pulses
- Fruit
- Salad and vegetables
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Lard and other hard fats
- Tinned and dry pet food
- Any meal leftovers
Not accepted
- Packaging
- Glass
- Other recycling
- Straw or other animal bedding
- Liquids
Common mistakes
- Cardboard → goes in Paper & Card · Recycling (blue) bag
- Foil → goes in Recycling · Recycling (blue lid) bin
- Garden waste → goes in Garden Waste · Compost it, take it to the tip or use a garden bin
Tips (13)
- • Food bin collected weekly
- • Sign up to start collections
- • Leave bin out until emptied
- • May come before or after bins
- • Use your 2018 brown bin
- • Bones and shells accepted
- • Eggshells are accepted
- • Tinned and dry pet food OK
- • Tea bags and coffee grounds OK
- • No packaging
- • No liquids
- • No garden waste
- • No animal bedding or straw
Garden Waste
Accepted
- Grass cuttings
- Hedge and shrub clippings
- Plants and weeds
- Leaves, twigs and bark
- Cut flowers
- Windfalls · Fallen fruit such as apples
Not accepted
- Soil, pot plant compost, turf, ash or garden chemicals
- Plastic, including bags, bin liners and plant pots
- Stones or rubble
- DIY rubbish, timber or sawdust
- Animal waste or bedding
- Metal or glass
Common mistakes
- Food or kitchen waste → goes in Food Waste · Food waste (brown) bin
Tips (13)
- • Subscription only service
- • Up to 20 collections in 2026
- • Collected fortnightly
- • Covers only remaining pickups
- • Keep garden waste loose
- • No bags of any kind
- • Don't overfill: lid must close
- • Not too heavy to empty safely
- • Split heavy loads over weeks
- • No soil, turf or ash
- • No food or kitchen waste
- • Windfall fruit is accepted
- • Pay for extra garden bins
Paper & Card
Accepted
- Paper · Blue bag
- Newspapers · Blue bag · Symbol guide
- Magazines · Blue bag
- Card · Blue bag
- Cardboard · Large pieces: fold, remove tape, put beside bag
- Cartons · Blue bag
- Plain wrapping paper · Not if shiny or with foil or metallic particles
Not accepted
- Plastics and packaging
- Plastic bagsInstead: Non-recycling grey bin
- PolystyreneInstead: Grey bin or the tip on Shidas Lane
- Tissues
- Greaseproof paper
- Glitter or foil wrapping paper
- Greeting cards with glitter or attachments
Common mistakes
- Glass, cans, tins and plastics → goes in Recycling · Recycling (blue lid) bin
- Food waste → goes in Food Waste · Food waste (brown) bin
- Nappies → goes in General Waste · Non-recycling (grey) bin or a purple (nappy) bag
- Garden waste → goes in Garden Waste · Compost it, take it to the tip or use a garden bin
Tips (14)
- • Paper and card: blue bag
- • Cartons go in the blue bag
- • Keep paper and card separate
- • Fold large cardboard pieces
- • Put big card beside the bag
- • Remove tape from cardboard
- • No plastics or packaging
- • No polystyrene
- • No tissues
- • No greaseproof paper
- • No glitter or foil wrap
- • No cards with glitter
- • Bag won't close? Still taken
- • Extra blue bags can be ordered
How Sandwell compares
- Paper and card have their own container in Sandwell, as in 53 of the 182 councils we have checked.
Areas covered by Sandwell
- Postcode districts all or nearly all in Sandwell: B64, B65, B66, B67, B68, B69, B70, B71 and DY4.
- Postcode districts mostly in Sandwell: B43 and WS10 (shared with Walsall).
- Postcode districts partly in Sandwell: WS5 (shared with Walsall).
Built-up areas (ONS) with the most postcodes in Sandwell: West Bromwich, Smethwick, Oldbury, Tipton, Rowley Regis, Cradley Heath, Wednesbury, Blackheath, Birmingham, Darlaston.
Shares count each district’s live postcodes; a district is listed where Sandwell has at least 5% of them or 50. Built-up areas are ONS statistical areas, not a list from the council.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2025. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Council homepages: GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Next door
On bank holidays, collections stay on the usual day in Sandwell; in Birmingham, that week’s collections move a day later.
In Walsall the recycling bin is green; here the recycling bin is blue (availability: Not flats or apartments (communal bins)). Sandwell collects food waste separately; Walsall says it does not. Plastic bags go in the recycling in Walsall but not in Sandwell.
Neighbouring councils we have checked: Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton.
When are bins collected in Sandwell?
Sandwell sets collection days by street: find your bin day, or browse neighbours’ schedules by postcode.
Sandwell doesn't move bin collections for bank holidays, so your usual day stands. Christmas and New Year weeks can still differ, so check the council's site for those. Your neighbours can vote on the actual day on BinBosh if it changes.
In Sandwell’s own words: “recycling and non-recycling bins have been collected on alternate weeks”
No Sandwell streets on BinBosh yet: add yours for neighbours to adopt.
How we checked this page
We checked this guidance against Sandwell’s website in September 2026.
Source: Sandwell council website, which has the latest updates. Bin colours are as the council publishes them; some homes get a different container.
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Every report goes to BinBosh’s owner, who checks it against the council’s own page.
Frequently asked questions
What colour are the bins in Sandwell?
In Sandwell the recycling bin is blue (availability: Not flats or apartments (communal bins)), the food waste bin is brown (availability: Sign up online; not flats or apartments) and the paper and card bag is blue (availability: Not flats or apartments (communal bins)). Sandwell also lists a grey bin for non-recycling. Blue is the recycling colour in 35 of the 91 councils with a checked recycling colour.
Where does glass go in Sandwell?
Glass goes in the blue recycling bin (availability: Not flats or apartments (communal bins)) in Sandwell (“Glass bottles and jars”).
Do bin collections change on bank holidays in Sandwell?
Sandwell doesn't move bin collections for bank holidays, so your usual day stands. Christmas and New Year weeks can still differ, so check the council's site for those.
What goes in the recycling bin in Sandwell?
Sandwell’s recycling bin takes “Food tins and drink cans”, “Glass bottles and jars” and “Plastic bottles, tubs and food trays”, among other things.
See the full recycling listWork for Sandwell? See how BinBosh helps councils →
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