Sorting the bins and reading green labels in the UK

Most households sort their rubbish into a few bins each week. In England, the rules on what goes in each bin changed on 31 March 2026. Shoppers also see words like "eco" and "green" on labels, and government guidance says what a business needs to back those words up.

The bins in England since March 2026

The Simpler Recycling rules came into force in England on 31 March 2026. By default, councils and other waste collectors must now collect four kinds of waste separately from every household, including flats.

Food and garden waste.
Paper and card.
All other dry recycling, which is glass, metal and plastic, including cartons.
General rubbish that goes for energy recovery or to landfill.

Food and drink cartons go in with the plastic. Plastic film packaging and plastic bags are due to join the plastic recycling from 31 March 2027. Some councils have agreed a later start date for food waste. They still collect the dry recycling.

Your council sets the details

A council can collect paper and card together with the other dry recycling, where that suits the area. The government's guidance asks councils to tell households clearly what each bin takes. It also lists items that collectors may leave out. Drinking glasses, mirrors, light bulbs, kettles, pots and pans are among them. So is anything labelled "compostable" or "biodegradable", including coffee pods.

The GOV.UK council finder works for postcodes in England and Wales. It shows whether the council collects recycling, and how to recycle things like packaging and garden waste.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The Simpler Recycling guidance applies to England. People in Wales can search for an item on Wales Recycles and check their postcode. In Scotland, Zero Waste Scotland is the public body for using resources for longer. In Northern Ireland, nidirect has the government's pages on bins, food waste and recycling.

How much households recycle

Defra updated its UK statistics on waste on 23 September 2026. Households in the UK recycled 44.5% of their waste in 2024, against 44.6% in 2023. That UK rate counts metal recovered from incinerator ash.

Wales recycled 58.6% of household waste in 2024. Northern Ireland recycled 50.1%, England 43.8% and Scotland 42.7%.

Reading a green label

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) wrote the Green Claims Code for businesses in 2021. It says words like "green", "sustainable" or "eco-friendly", used without explanation, are likely to suggest that a whole product or business does the environment good, or at least no harm. A business that uses them needs to be able to prove that.

The CMA's checklist asks businesses for up-to-date, credible evidence behind each claim. A general claim should cover the product's whole life cycle. Any conditions should be set out so that everyone can understand them. Features that every such product has, or that the law requires, stay out of an environmental claim. Shoppers can ask the same questions of any label they read.

If a claim looks wrong

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) takes complaints from anyone who thinks something is wrong with an advert. It asks for where and when the advert appeared, and a photo or screenshot if possible. Its rules ask advertisers to explain the basis of any environmental claim.

People who think a business has broken the law or acted unfairly can report it to Trading Standards. They do this through the Citizens Advice consumer service, which passes the report on.