The roll-out of reusable recycling bags is now complete across all households in Monmouthshire!
We can no longer accept recycling contained in single-use plastic bags.
It is really important that you only include items that we can recycle…plastics, for example, can be confusing!!!
So, what items can go into the red and purple recycling bags?
Download our leaflet explaining What goes in which bag.
In the red bag you can recycle:
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Junk mail including envelopes
- Newspapers and magazines
- Telephone directories and catalogues
In the purple bag you can recycle:
- Food and drink cans
- Plastic bottles
- Plastic punnets/ ready meal trays
- Yoghurt pots (please rinse)
- Margarine tubs
- Aerosols (must be empty)
- Aluminium foil/kitchen foil
- Drink cartons, eg orange juice etc
We cannot currently recycle ‘soft plastics’: crisp packets, plastic bags, cling film and polystyrene.
You can recycle some of these items at specialist collection points throughout the County. To find out where these are please search the WalesRecycles webpage. Alternatively, if you wish to include them in your kerbside collections, they must go in your black bags for household rubbish collection.
Electrical items, batteries, vapes & e-cigarettes
Please do not put any electrical items, vapes or batteries in your recycling collection. Lithium-Ion batteries as found in mobile phones, laptops and vapes can cause fires within our vehicles and when sent to the waste disposal facility. It is of utmost importance to dispose of these items appropriately:
Batteries: All premises that sell vapes should take them back to dispose of safely or you can take them to your local Recycling Centre.
Electrical items and phones: Recycle these at your local Recycling centre.
Vapes: All premises that sell e-cigarettes and/or vapes should take them back to dispose of safely. You can also take them to your local Recycling Centre.
Where can I get a replacement bag?
If your bag gets lost or broken, you can pick up a replacement from your Local Community Hub.
Red and purple bags are provided for Monmouthshire resident’s kerbside recycling only. They are costly and should not be used for any other purpose.
Non-collection of bags…
If your recycling bags contain items which aren’t accepted for recycling, our crews will leave it and sticker your bag. This sticker will give the reason that it hasn’t been collected, please take note and rectify the issue in time for your next collection.
If your bag has been missed, not been stickered, and all the items are accepted as part of our recycling collection, please report a missed collection via My Monmouthshire.
When is my collection day?
Where does your recycling go?
On average we send 10,000 tonnes per annum of red and purple bag material to Material Recycling Facilities (MRFs) from domestic kerbside collections. The materials are sorted by automated systems and hand, prior to being quality checked to ensure a high specification, standardised commodity is sent to specialist approved reprocessors to be turned into new products. The specification does not change by end market and all of the material is processed to European standard e.g. EN643 for recovered paper grades, before the end market is determined. The sorted materials are a commodity and sold domestically and across the globe to export markets. EN463 allows up to 1.49% contamination per load, this will usually be plastic windows in envelopes, plastic wrapper inserts in magazines etc.
Approximately 9% of materials are deemed contamination by the reprocessor and sent to an Energy from Waste facility in the UK (900 tonnes per year).
Approximately 25% of materials are directly exported to foreign countries as a global commodity. The UK has a long tradition of exporting materials across the globe e.g. Welsh coal, slate and steel.
Approximately 65% of materials are reprocessed in the UK.
Malaysian, Indonesian and other South East Asia companies purchase the bales of sorted material for onward processing. The packaging used for the vast majority of goods purchased in the UK will come from these reprocessors. The bales are sorted to European standards but some contamination is inevitable in an automated sorting process that relies on mass public participation. If these companies are disposing of material incorrectly we rely on the Environmental Agencies in those countries to monitor and prosecute where necessary. The material being sent is a commodity that is sorted in the UK before being purchased by the export markets.
More information about where your recycling goes is available on My Recycling Wales.