Preston City Council Neighbourhood Services

Recycling

Domestic waste consists of a long list of compostable and recyclable materials. Some of them can be recycled in your blue boxes and some of them need to be recycled at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC). The closest locations of HWRC for Preston area are:

  • Tom Benson Way, Ingol, Preston, PR2 1SG
  • Chapel Hill, Longridge, Preston, PR3 2YB

LCC Household Waste Recycling Centres

Lancashire County Council operates 23 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC's) where household can recycle their rubbish.

8am to 7pm every day
363 days a year
Closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Years Day

In Lancashire we pride ourselves on the service we provide at our HWRC's. All of the HWRC's recycle or re-use an extensive range of materials. We also have dedicated staff on hand to help you recycle your rubbish. these staff are easily identifiable in their bright yellow and green uniforms that carry our "Here to help" logo. They are available to assist you with all aspects of your visit to a HWRC whether it is help with recycling that you require, a hand yo unload your car or just help to carry a heavy item.

The HWRC's do operate an Access Policy and Permit Scheme which restricts use of the sites by certain large vehicles and trailers. This policy helps to increase safety and reduce congestion at the sites. Please also remember that the HWRC's do not accept trade waste of any description.

Our aim is to ensure that householders visiting our HWRC's receive a high level of service and enjoy their visit to the "tip".

Recycling at Home

What can I put in my Red Lidded Box?

Your red lidded recycling box will be collected every fortnight from the front edge of your property.

We will empty the following items from your red lidded recycling box.

    • Plastic bottles (squashed and rinsed) e.g. pop, milk, detergent
    • Cardboard (flattened) e.g. food packaging, appliance boxes (please leave large pieces under the box)
    • Cards

Please rinse all food containers and remove all plastic packaging.

Please note, some rural properties can put textiles in their red-lidded box. Please check your calendar or contact Neighbourhood Services to see which scheme area you are in.

What must not go in:

    • Tetra paks and juice cartons - these are lined with a waxy waterproof material and we do not currently have the technology available locally to recycle these products.
    • Plastic bags, cling film, plastic tubs and cartons (e.g. margarine, yogurt). There are many different types of plastic and their chemical compositions all differ slightly, because of this the recycling process that they must undergo is also different. We know that we can process the types of plastic used in the production of bottles, and these plastic items only should go in your red lidded recycling box. All other plastic items should be disposed of in your grey bin.

If you have an old style blue recycling bin please do not use this for cardboard and plastic. This box should be used for glass, cans and paper.

We ask that you ensure no items other than those listed go into your red lidded recycling box as if levels of contamination are too high our loads may be rejected at the recycling facilities. The material will then have to be sent to landfill.

What can I put in my Yellow Lidded Box?

Your yellow lidded recycling box will be collected every fortnight from the front edge of your property.

We will empty the following items from your yellow lidded recycling box/old style blue box.

    • Newspapers
    • Magazines & Junk Mail
    • Catalogues & Directories (hard covers removed)
    • Glass bottles & Jars
    • Food & Drink Cans (including pet food cans and biscuit tins)
    • Aluminium foil (clean)
    • Clothing (bagged)

Please rinse all food containers and remove all plastic packaging.

Please note, some Rural properties cannot put textiles in their yellow lidded box. Please check your calendar or contact Neighbourhood Services to see which scheme area you are in.

What must not go in

    • Plastic & Cardboard - these items should go in your Red lidded recycling box.
    • Wallpaper, Paper Towels & Cheque's - these paper produces contain stiffeners so that they degrade at a slower rate than other types of paper and cannot go into your yellow lidded recycling box.
    • Broken glass and window glass - these items may have sharp edges which pose a health and safety risk to the crews who have to hand sort the items in the box.
    • Pyrex & Drinking glasses - The temperatures at which these types of glass melt are different to the glass used in bottles and jars, this may affect the recycling process.

We ask that you ensure no items other than those listed go into your yellow lidded/old style blue recycling box as it levels of contamination are too high our loads may be rejected at the recycling facilities. The material will then have to be sent to landfill.

What can I put in my Brown Bin?

We compost what we put in your brown bin. Please follow these simple guidelines.

Please note if your property has a garden but you do not receive a brown bin collection you should contact us if you wish to register your interests in joining the scheme.

Your brown bin is for the following items only:

    • Leaves
    • Cut flowers and houseplants

The following items are not compostable and must not go in your brown box:

    • Glass
    • Metal
    • Textiles
    • Plastic (including plastic bags)
    • Plant pots
    • Stones
    • Rubble

Although paper and cardboard are compostable they must not go into your brown bin as they do not breakdown easily.

Treated wood contains paint and pesticides which may be harmful to plants and should not go into your brown bin.

Soil must not go into your brown bin as the bin will become to heavy and then it may be not be possible for the crew to move the bin safely as the lifting equipment on the collection vehicle may be damaged.

You should also not put kitchen waste in your brown bin due to legislation brought into force as a result of the Foot and Mouth epidemic.

If your brown bin contains any of the above items, it will not be emptied.

We ask that you ensure no items other than those listed go into your red lidded recycling box as if levels of contamination are too high our loads may be rejected at the recycling facilities. The material will then have to be sent to landfill.

Recycling

What can you do?

There are a number of ways to reduce and recycle rubbish in the home, and at school. In most cases it is better to chose items which create less rubbish, for example goods without excessive packaging.

Use our waste diary to record your rubbish.

See below for more ideas of how you can help cut down the amount of rubbish you produce. You could reduce the rubbish in your bin by over 50%.

Reduce

    • don't but heavily packed goods
    • buy 'loose' food rather than pre-packaged
    • stop junk mail and faxes through the Mailing Preference Service
    • cancel delivery of unwanted newspapers, donate old magazines to waiting rooms
    • use your own shopping bags when visiting the supermarket or use the doorstep delivery service
    • grow your own vegetables. Many varieties can be grown in small gardens
    • use a nappy laundry service, and save disposable ones for holidays and long journeys
    • take a packed lunch to work or school in a reusable container

Re-use

    • re-use carrier bags. Each person in the UK uses an average of 134 plastic bags each year
    • re-use scrap paper for writing notes, etc
    • re-use envelopes - stick labels over the address
    • rent or borrow items you don't use very often - e.g. party decorations and crockery. Some supermarkets hire out glasses for parties, saving on disposable cups
    • donate old computer and audio visual equipment to community groups or schools
    • buy things in refillable containers e.g. washing powders
    • buy concentrated products which use less packaging
    • take old clothes and books to charity shops, or have a car boot sale
    • look for long lasting (and energy efficient) appliances when buying new electrical items - ensure these are well-maintained to increase product life cycle

Recycle

    • choose products in packaging which you know is recycled
    • compost - lots of kitchen waste can be composted. Contact your local council for details of local composting schemes and details of any compost bin sales
    • buy products made from recycled materials. Most supermarkets now stock a wide range of these items.
    • find out where your nearest recycling facilities are

Why should we bother recycling

    1. Recycling makes better use of our limited resources.
    2. The less virgin materials we use, the less resources we have to extract from the earth, thus reducing the environment impact of mining.
    3. In some cases, less energy is used to make products from recycled materials than virgin materials.
    4. Recycling reduces the amount of waste going to landfill (or incinerator).

Facts you may be interested to know

    1. In one year there would be enough waste to fill dustbins stretching from the Earth to the Moon. (Source: LGB Publications).
    2. In England and Wales, 83% of waste goes to landfill, 9% is recycled or composted and 8% incinerated.
    3. The majority of waste produced in Greater Manchester ends up in big holes in the ground in Cheshire.
    4. Every year in the UK we use 13 billion steel cans, which is placed end to end, would stretch to the moon - three times! About three billion of these cans are made from recycled steel. By using recycled materials we can save 75% of the energy needed to make steel from virgin materials. (Source: Steel can Recycling information Bureau).
    5. Recycling Aluminium saves up to 95% of energy and produces 95% less greenhouse gas emissions than if raw materials are used. (Source: Alucan web site).
    6. 20,000 tons of aluminium foil is wasted every year. Only about 3 tonnes are recycled. (Source: alupro).
    7. If all the aluminium cans sold in the UK were recycled, there would be 12 million fewer full dustbins each year. (Source: Alucan web site)
    8. One tree can make 15,000 sheets of A4 paper.
    9. Every tonne of paper recycled saves 15 average sized trees, as well as their surrounding habitat and wildlife. (Source: WWF) Recycling paper uses 50% less energy, reduces water pollution by 35% and air pollution by 74%.
    10. About 1.5 million tonnes of glass goes into landfill each year. This is a problem because glass does not rot away.
    11. Recycling glass uses 25% less energy.
    12. If everyone in the UK bought just one item of woollen clothing from a charity shop per year, we would save 371 million gallons of water (a full reservoir holds 300 million gallons) and 480 tonnes of chemical dyes. (Source Evergreen 2002)
    13. Recycling one tonne of clothes uses 10 times less energy than recycling one tonne of glass.
    14. If we collected the 90 million mobile phones that we no longer use, they could be recycled for the metal inside them. This would equal 18 tonnes of copper, 428,000 ounces of silver and 85,000 ounces of gold! (Worth about £49 million.
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