Orange Bag
Recycling
Your guide to using the Orange
Bag recycling service
Love the streets you live in
Why Recycle?
Recycling is a really easy way for us all to make a real difference to the environment. By
choosing to recycle you are giving all of the items below a chance to be remade into
something new, instead of being wasted.
Yes please
Place any of the items below in an orange bag. Rinse any item that has contained food
or drink and flatten cartons and plastic bottles. Please do not recycle lids as they
reduce the quality of the end product.
3
Glass bottles and jars – no lids
3
Tins, cans and empty aerosols
3
Food and drink cartons
3
Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and
trays – no lids
3
Unshredded paper and card.
3
Cardboard – please flatten
No thanks
Do not place any of these items into your orange bag.
Garden waste
Textiles
Food waste
Shredded paper
Polystyrene
Plastic toys
Building / DIY materials
These items cannot be recycled in orange
bags. Shredded paper blocks the sorting
machine. Bags containing these will be
incinerated with your normal rubbish.
For more info visit: www.rbkc.gov.uk or call
Streetline 0207 361 3001.
How to recycle
Place your orange bag outside with your normal refuse. Recycling is picked up at the
same time as the usual refuse collection – the orange bag goes in a separate recycling
compartment at the back of the lorry. If your property has a refuse storage area then
you must use it, not the pavement. If you do not have a storage area, please put your
rubbish and recyclables on the pavement before 7am on the morning of collection (not
the night before), outside your own property.
To find out your collection days please call Streetline on 020 7361 3001.
What happens to my recycling?
Your recyclable material goes to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Wandsworth
where it is sorted by mechanical means into different material types. The materials are
bulked up onto pallets and, in the main, sent to different locations in the UK for
re-processing into recycled goods. Some materials are exported for recycling because
there is a shortage of processing plants in the UK. These exports are strictly regulated
by law and are audited by the Environment Agency.
• Paper and cardboard – sent to various reprocessors in Kent, the north west of
England, Europe, and China.
• Glass bottles and jars – mostly sent to a London-based aggregates company.
• Plastic items – currently reprocessed in the UK.
• Cans and aerosols – sent to a reprocessing plant in the north west of England.
• Food and drink cartons – currently included with paper and cardboard and sold to
different reprocessors as outlined above. If the amount collected increases, the
Council may have to export the cartons to Finland or Italy – the only places where
there are mills specially designed for this material.
What does my recycling get turned into?
• Plastic items – melted and turned into pellets to make new plastic bottles, new
orange recycling bags, car parts and garden furniture.
• Cans and empty aerosols – can be recycled into a variety of products including
new cans, bicycle frames, pipes and train tracks.
• Glass – is washed, crushed and turned into a fine material like sand – this can be
used as building sand or it can undergo further treatment to turn it into in a product
suitable for floor and wall insulation and lightweight construction aggregate.
• Paper – can be recycled into office paper, newspapers, books and magazines.
Cardboard is usually made into new boxes and packaging but can also be used for
other purposes, such as animal bedding.
• Food and drink cartons – can be recycled into a number of different products
ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.
Residents can be assured that all the material they recycle is reprocessed for further
use. It is never thrown away. The Council would like to say a big “thank you” to
everyone who recycles. You are making a very positive contribution to the
environment by conserving resources and energy.
Please keep up the good work!
Additional Services
Too Big for the Bin
The Council will collect up to ten bulky items from domestic properties only, for a fee.
To book this service online please visit www.rbkc.gov.uk or call Streetline on
020 7361 3001.
Garden Waste Service
The Council operates a garden waste collection scheme using two different types of
bag – a reusable garden waste bag and/or biodegradable bags. Garden waste will not
be collected in any other way. All garden waste collected by the Council is sent for
composting. To register for the garden waste service please call Streetline on
020 7361 3001.
More information
To find out more about recycling please
Tel: Streetline on 020 7361 3001*
Email: [email protected]
Printed on 100% recycled paper
Web: www.rbkc.gov.uk
*Please note, your call may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
Recycling and Refuse Amenity Sites (Public Tips)
Royal Borough residents can dispose of other unwanted items and recycling free of
charge at the Recycling and Refuse Amenity Sites at Wandsworth and Battersea.
Both sites accept a wide range of items for recycling such as batteries, audio tapes
and video cassettes, TVs and monitors, engine oil, scrap metal, soil, rubble, fluorescent
tubes and bicycles. Visit Western Riverside Waste Authority (WRWA) www.wrwa.gov.uk
or tel 0208 871 2788 for more details.
If driving, cars must be under 6'6' in height and must not be modified to carry goods.
No pre-notification is necessary unless your vehicle is not a car. In this case you must
pre-notify WRWA or tel Streetline 0207 361 3001.
Western Riverside Reuse
and Recycling Centre
Smugglers Way, Wandsworth, SW18 1JS
Email www.wrwa.gov.uk
Tel 0208 871 2788
Monday – Friday 9am – 4pm
Saturday 8am – 4pm
Sunday 8am – 5pm
Closed Christmas Day,
Boxing Day, New Year's Day
Chelsea Bridge
Cringle Dock
Cringle Street, Battersea, SW8 5BX
www.wrwa.gov.uk
24 hours a day, seven days a week
Closed midnight Christmas Eve until 6am
Boxing Day
Cringle Dock
Transfer Station
e
an
sL
Battersea
Power
Station
e
Nin
Elm
Cringle Street
Kirtling Street
Battersea Park Road
New Covent
Garden
Market
Battersea Park Station