Somerset Council

Sort it for 2026: Improved recycling

Recycling bags, boxes and bins lined up along a wet pavement beside a stone wall on a residential street.

Sorting your recycling correctly helps our crews work more efficiently – especially when boxes are fuller after the festive period.

Please check you’re putting the right items in the right box or bag. If you have extra recycling, take it to a recycling site or store it for the following week if you have space.

What goes where

Bright blue bag

Recycle:

  • Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
  • Metal tins and cans
  • Foil
  • Empty aerosol cans (e.g. deodorant or whipped cream)
  • Empty toothpaste tubes

Do not include: camping gas canisters.

Green box

Recycle:

  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Cartons

Remember: rinse items, put lids back on, and avoid putting in broken glass, Pyrex or glassware.

Black box

Recycle:

  • Paper
  • Cardboard (please tear or flatten large boxes)

Batteries, vapes and small electricals

You can recycle these at the kerbside or at any recycling site, or find local collection points at recycleyourelectricals.org.uk.

  • Batteries: place in a small tied clear bag and leave on top of your boxes.
  • Small electricals: put in a separate, untied bag so crews can check contents.
  • Vapes: bag separately from electricals.

Avoid Contamination

To keep recycling loads clean, please avoid:

  • Plastic bags or wrappers in your blue bag or boxes (unless you’re in the plastic bags and wrappers pilot)
  • Broken glass in any box
  • Mixed‑material pouches at the kerbside

If you’re part of the plastic bags and wrappers pilot, use the special collection bags provided – these go in your box, not the reusable bright blue bag.

For items that can’t be recycled weekly, consider whether you can pass them on for reuse.

5 quick tips to make the most of your recycling collection

  1. Leave metal jar lids and bottle tops on glass before placing in the green box – this prevents small materials from being lost when emptied.
  2. Squash plastic bottles and replace caps so crews can fit more into the collection trucks.
  3. Scrunch foil into a ball – combine small pieces with larger ones.
  4. Separate food from packaging before using your food caddy and leave out for weekly collections to reduce odours.
  5. Bag batteries and electricals correctly to help prevent fires at recycling facilities.