General waste collection is by far our most in-demand service. This is because every household produces vast amounts of general waste and residents need it picked up more frequently by a private service rather than relying on the council. It includes all the rubbish you put into your black bin such as food wrappers and used tissues and is the waste you produce which cannot be recycled.

 

When we empty this bin it is mixed in with other general waste and so any material you have put in which can be recycled can’t be recovered. So, make sure you are putting your recycling into your blue bin – separate from your general waste.

 


Things you CAN put into your general waste collection bin:

  • Office waste that cannot be recycled e.g. laminated paper
  • Soiled lunch wrappers
  • Disposable cloth, paper or plastic items
  • Decontaminated media or labware
  • Styrofoam, bottles and cans which cannot be recycled
  • Uncontaminated animal bedding

Things you CAN’T put into your general waste collection bin:

  • Any recyclable material such as paper, card, tin cans and plastic
  • Paint
  • Building materials
  • Soil and rubble
  • Electrical items
  • Loose ash or vacuum cleaner dust (put this waste in plastic bags and tie them to prevent spillages before

 

The average person in the UK chucks around 400kg of waste into their bins each year (about 7 times their body weight). Of the 26 million tonnes of waste produced in the UK, only 12 million tonnes are recycled, and 14 million tonnes are sent to landfill. That means that 55% of the waste UK citizens produce is sent to landfill and left to decompose.

 

This is such a significant problem because a lot of waste put into your general waste bin can actually be recycled but we all habitually throw these recyclable items into our black bins regardless. At Christmas, for instance, the UK bins around 83 squared kilometres of wrapping paper rather than recycling it (which it can be). That’s the same size as Sunderland.

 

If you choose our general waste collection service, we will use your current wheelie bin and collect on days/weeks which suit you.