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The following page should give you a handy guide to what you can and can't recycle. If you are still unsure whether we collect a material or not, please contact us on:
01491 823416 or email recycling@southoxon.gov.uk.

If you need a second recycling bin you should contact the waste team by emailing admin.southoxford@verdant-group.co.uk or call 03000 610610.

We do collect:

Any paper and cardboard, including:

• Books - only if not suitable for taking to a charity shop
• Catalogues
• Cereal boxes
• Corrugated cardboard
• Envelopes (including envelopes with windows)
• Greeting cards
• Junk mail  
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Phone directories (including the Yellow Pages)
• Shredded paper - can still go into your green wheeled bin as long as you ideally put it in a paper envelope or paper/plastic bag or paper bag.
• Tissue boxes
• Toilet roll tubes
• Window envelopes
• Writing paper

Glass

• Mixed glass bottles and jars - any colour (and bottle tops)
  (Although we don't take window panes, glass cookware/pyrex, glasses, broken glasses, light bulbs etc)

All plastic packaging (with the exception of cling film), including:

• Carrier bags
• Detergent bottles
• Drinks bottles
  (and tops, although if possible remove the tops and squash down the bottle)
• Food and drink cartons (Tetra Paks)
• Food trays
• General plastic packaging (e.g. salad bags)
• Ice cream tubs
• Margarine tubs
• Plastic plant pots 
• Plastic milk cartons and bottles
• Shampoo bottles
• Yoghurt pots

We can accept plastic wrapping from newspapers and magazines, but please remove this from the magazine before placing it in the recycling bin.

Metal

• Aerosols
• Foil
• Food tins
• Steel and aluminium food and drink cans (please wash and squash them first)

All these can go in your bin together and should be loose (no bagged materials).
We prefer all materials to be clean and the labels removed.

See the food waste page for information on what you can put in your food bin.

  We don’t collect the following items for recycling:

• Batteries (take to the waste recycling centre)
• Bubble wrap
• Cat litter / animal litter or straw
• Cat food pouches
• CDs and cassettes (reusable ones can go to charity shops)
• Children's toys (take to charity shops)
• China or broken crockery
• Cling film
• Cork 
• Crisp packets / pringles tubes
• Cold ash
• Dog faeces
• Electrical items
• Light bulbs – Old filament light bulbs will have to go in the grey refuse bin. Low energy light bulbs can be taken to any County Council Waste Recycling Centre.
• Metal coat hangers
• Mirrors
• Nappies
• Pill packets (e.g. ibuprofen and paracetemol)
• Plastic coated paper cups
• Polystyrene (including expanded polystyrene)
• Printer cartridges - these can be refilled at some computer/printer stores or you can order ink from the internet yourself. If this is not possible please donate them to a cartridge recycling charity.
• Rubber bands
• Sanitary products
• Old shoes (or take them to a recycling bank)
• Sweet wrappers
• Take away or pie tins
• Textiles/clothes and footwear (or take them to a recycling bank)
• Wood

All of the above go into your grey rubbish bin.

What other ways can I recycle?

You can also recycle glass, drinks cartons, textiles and footwear at recycling banks throughout the district. 

Why can't I put things like crisp packets and cat food pouches in the green?

These items are made of a combination of foil and plastic and as the components cannot be separated they cannot be recycled and should go in the grey bin.

Why is cling film not accepted in the green bin?

Cling film can cause serious problems in the sorting facility. They wrap around the moving parts of the machinery and cause breakdowns so please do not put them in your green bin.

Why don’t you collect textiles?

Textiles can become entangled in the sorting machinery at the recycling plant. There are, however, recycling banks for textiles and shoes around the district. Alternatively, wearable clothing and shoes could be taken to a charity shop.