General waste mythbuster
Myth: All my general waste just goes to landfill
All recycling and waste materials are sorted at Forest Park. Anything that cannot be recycled is processed at an Energy from Waste (EfW) facility that makes use of combustible materials to produce electricity that powers homes. We divert over 90% of waste from landfill.
Myth: I can put anything in my household waste bin
Some items such as asbestos and plasterboard are hazardous waste. They cannot go in your general waste container.
Other items such as batteries can cause a fire hazard on collection vehicles or at the Forest Park treatment centre. Use our battery recycling service instead.
If they are washed, even old textiles full of rips and holes can go in our kerbside recycling service.
Most items can be recycled either at the kerbside or at one of our recycling centres.
Find out what bin to put it in.
Myth: Food waste ends up in landfill
Your food is collected from the kerbside and taken to an anaerobic digestion plant to be treated and become farmland fertiliser and electricity. This helps the environment and reduces the amount of waste to landfill.
Myth: It’s ok to send food waste to landfill because food breaks down naturally
In the UK we throw away 6.5 million tonnes of food and drink every year, 4.5 million of which is edible. If this amount was sent to landfill it will produce the harmful greenhouse gas methane. This is because food waste needs oxygen to biodegrade naturally but when it is squashed into landfill, no air can get to it.
Myth: My binmen don’t separate food waste when it goes on the collection truck
Our refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) have separate compartments for food waste within the vehicle. When materials are loaded, it may look like separated recyclables are being mixed together when they're entering separate compartments, but they aren’t.