Recycling waste - blue bin

Residents are provided with a 240L blue-lidded bin for general recycling, which is emptied every fortnight. Please ensure your bin is clearly presented kerbside, on the pavement, by 6 am on your scheduled collection day. The bin must not be placed on your driveway or boundary, but on the pavement where it is clearly visible for collection. After collection, please remove your bin from the kerbside within 24 hours. You can check your bin collection schedule using our bin day lookup.

For flats and housing complexes, some properties may not be provided with individual wheelie bins but will have access to large communal bins to use for their waste. The same general rules apply for these communal bins.

What can I recycle?

Only materials that can be recycled can be put into your blue bin. This includes:

  • Paper: newspapers, envelopes, directories, magazines and catalogues, office paper and junk mail
  • Cardboard: greetings cards, cereal boxes, egg boxes, general packages and cardboard tubes
  • Plastic bottles and yoghurt pots: pop and milk bottles, cleaning product bottles, toiletry bottles, margarine tubs and bottle tops
  • Food tins, drink cans and aerosols: clean food tins, empty aerosol cans and drinks cans.

You can request an additional recycling bin for your property if needed. Please get in touch to request an additional bin.

Please do not put the following items in your blue bin:

  • Shredded paper, kitchen roll, tissues, metallic wrapping paper
  • Tetra packs and juice cartons
  • Takeaway pizza boxes
  • Carrier bags or bin liners
  • Ice cream tubs, plastic containers, food cartons and trays
  • Paint and oil tins
  • Pots or pans
  • Glass bottles and jars, must go in your glass recycling bin
  • Food pouches
  • Bubble wrap
  • Coat hangers
  • Polystyrene
  • Nappies
  • Wood
  • Toys
  • Textiles, clothing and shoes.

You can recycle most of these items at your local recycling site. Each site has different recycling facilities so check what can be recycled before you visit. Some items cannot be recycled and these should be put into your green bin. See exactly what can and can't be recycled in the Bin smart recycling guide (opens in new window)

The county's waste contractor, Veolia along with Nottinghamshire County Council, have put together a helpful video about the Mansfield Materials Recovery Facility to explain how your waste is recycled. Watch the video on Veolia UK's YouTube channel (opens in new window)

For helpful tips on ways to reduce your waste, please see our reducing your waste webpage.

Why we should recycle

Wherever possible any waste you produce should be reused or recycled. Recycling waste allows it to be made into something else. Currently, 38% of waste in Mansfield is recycled.

There are many reasons to recycle including:

  • Protecting the environment - recycling stops waste going to landfill. Landfill sites produce lots of methane which contributes to global warming.
  • Saving money - if recycling targets aren't met we may be penalised by national government.

We're running out of room - the UK's landfill sites are filling up. In the future reducing, reusing and recycling may be the only way to deal with the waste.

Too much recycling for your blue bin?

You can put extra recycling next to your blue bin on collection day.

Please make sure it won't blow away - please flatten and bundle up any cardboard and leave tucked behind the blue bin. 

Extra loose recycling can be put out in a cardboard box.

However if you regular produce large amounts you can request an additional recycling bin. Please get in touch to request an additional bin.