Coronavirus

A reminder from the government if you have Covid (or symptoms), all personal waste, including used tissues, face coverings, personal protective equipment (PPE), used rapid lateral flow tests, disposable cleaning cloths and kitchen paper should be:

• Placed in a plastic bag and tied tied when full, then placed in another plastic rubbish sack and tied.
• Stored securely, separate from other waste and communal areas, for three days.
• After three days, placed in your black bin.

Which bin?

Here’s a list of what goes in which bin (from the SCDC website)… 

• Blue bin  Paper, cardboard, plastics and metal.  In general, if an item is plastic in nature and has been in touch with foodstuffs and is clean, it can be put in the blue bin – things like yoghurt tubs, plastic bags and cellophane wrapping.

• Black bin  CD and DVDs, bicycle tyres and inner tubes, waxed paper products such as butter and cheese wrappers, inkjet cartridges (although these can be recycled at most supermarkets or at computer / printer ink shops) and incandescent / old types of light bulbs.  Energy saving bulbs and fluorescent tubes can be disposed of free of charge at SCDC’s household waste recycling centres at Milton and Thriplow.

• Green bin  Garden waste, food scraps and used tea bags, coffee filters (provided they are not plastic, otherwise they should be placed in the black bin), egg shells, orange peel, butter pack wrappers (these are not of sufficient quality to place in the blue bin).

• If you have more than one green bin, from 1st April 2019, SCDC require you to have a permit if they are to empty it – the details are on the SCDC website.

• Textiles  should NOT be placed in the green or blue bin – please take them to a recycling centre, such as the one at he Gamlingay Eco Hub.

• NB  Small, used batteries (in a little bag) can be put on the top of any colour bin. The top, not inside – to prevent another bin lorry fire.

Want to know more?

The Bins page on SCDC’s website is a very good source – it has links to…

• Find your bin collection day.
• Report a missed collection.
• What goes in which bin? – and much more.

Another good source is Cambridgeshire County Council’s section on waste and recycling – including hazardous waste, what its recycling centres accept and ways to reduce waste.

The County Council has also produced a guide to its recycling centres – click here for a copy.

_{Page checked / updated 24th January 2023.}