Residents in nine Greater Manchester boroughs can now recycle household plastics like pots, tubs and trays in their mixed recycling bin, previously only plastic bottles could be recycled at home.
The changes follow Upgrades at Greater Manchester’s materials recovery facility (MRF), where mixed recycling is sorted, has enabled this expansion.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is also building a new, state-of-the-art MRF that will use advanced sorting technologies and AI, to be completed in the next 3 years.
The changes will affect Residents in Bury, Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford
Residents in those boroughs will now be able to recycle clean plastic items like:
Plastic pots (e.g. yoghurt, soup, cosmetics etc)
Plastic tubs (e.g. margarine, laundry powder, chocolates etc)
Plastic trays including black plastic trays (e.g. raw and cooked meat, fruit and veg punnets etc)
These items can now be put in the mixed recycling bin, alongside:
Plastic bottles (e.g. milk, pop, bleach, cleaning products, trigger sprays, shampoo)
Glass bottles and jars
Food tins and drinks cans
Aerosols
Foil
Plastic films like crisp packets, bread bags, pet food pouches and carrier bags, still cannot be recycled. People can throw plastic films into their household bin, where they’ll be burned to generate electricity for the region.
In the However, we are planning to collect these types of plastic for recycling in the future once the new MRF is operational. Hard plastics like garden furniture or children’s toys can be taken to any Recycling Site in Greater Manchester.
