Green Box Recycling Service

The Green Box recycling scheme is a weekly recycling collection which is available to all street level properties in Hackney. It is compulsory to recycle tins and cans, glass, and paper.

A Green Box available to street level properties for recyclable materials

The Green Box is made from 100% recycled plastic, and has a capacity of 55 litres.

It is available to all street level properties. Residents can request additional boxes if required.

Materials you can recycle

Paper: All paper can be recycled, including newspapers, magazines, junk mail, catalogues, telephone directories and envelopes.
Cardboard: Boxes, greetings cards and cardboard packaging can all be recycled. Squash cardboard down and remember to remove any polystyrene or plastic
Cartons: Milk and fruit juice cartons (Tetra Pak) can all be recycled. Please wash and squash these
Mixed glass bottles and jars: Remove lids and rinse bottles and jars (all colours of glass can be included). Do not put in broken glass, light bulbs, drinking glasses or Pyrex
Food tins and drink cans: Rinse and squash
Tin foil: Wash and squash aluminium foil and foil ready meal or take away containers
Aerosols: Make sure they are empty, but don’t squash or pierce them
Plastic bottles: Remove lids, wash and squash
Household plastic packaging: Margarine containers, ice cream tubs, yoghurt pots and fruit punnets can all be recycled. Please make sure any food has been cleaned off
Used engine oil: Used oil can be recycled, but put it in a marked container. It is illegal to pour engine oil down the drain
Household and car batteries: Put old household batteries in a bag to keep them separate. Car batteries should be left next to the Green Box
Clothing, shoes and textiles: Make sure they are clean, and put them in a plastic bag to keep them dry. Tie shoes together

Materials you can’t recycle

Polystyrene and foam
Plastic films
Crisp packets and sweet wrappers
Plant pots
Plastic garden furniture
Tupperware containers
Coat hangers
Broken Glass bottles and jars

More information

For more information about the green box recycling service you can:

download our guide to the green box recycling service (PDF, 290KB)
call the recycling hotline (see top-right corner of this page for details)
see below for frequently asked questions.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have a lid for my green box?

Elastic net covers are available for the Green Box and are issued with every green box order. If you already have a box please phone the recycling hotline to request one free of charge. When you receive your net, remember to tie it on to your Green Box using the ties provided.

Why are my materials sorted on to the collection vehicle?

Lots of residents ask why we provide boxes instead of wheeled bins for recycling. The method of recycling selected by the Council is ‘kerbside sort’, which means that the crews sort materials from your Green Box into different compartments of their vehicle at the point of collection. This means the materials collected are high quality and can be recycled into high quality end products.

You can help the crew by:

Keeping materials separate within the box or grouping items together.
Flattening cardboard and cartons and squashing plastic bottles and packaging to save space.
Keeping materials free from any food waste.

Where does my recycling go?

Batteries are taken to G&P Batteries, based in Darlaston, Staffordshire, who specialise in recycling and processing both lead and non-lead acid batteries- www.g-pbatt.co.uk
Cardboard and cartons are taken to Edwards Recycling in Barking, Essex, from where is is sent to UK based mills for reprocessing into cardboard and bard products - www.edwardsrecycling.co.uk
Clothing, shoes and textiles are sent to LM Barry in Canning Town, London, where the materials are sorted into two streams: one for reusable clothes for charity, and the other to be reprocessed to make felt, wadding and dusters - www.lmb.co.uk
Engine oil is dealt with by a company called Malary Environmental Services, Cambridgeshire,where it is blended to produce high quality, reclaimed fuel oil (RFO)
Glass is separated into colours and sent to a special plant in Harlow, which is run by British Glass. After it has been thoroughly cleaned to remove things like labels and plastic, it is mixed with other materials and melted down to be turned back into more bottles and jars - www.britglass.org.uk
Paper is taken to Aylesford Newsprint in Kent, where it is turned into paper for newspapers across Europe - www.aylesford-newsprint.co.uk
Plastic bottles and packaging collected from the Green Box scheme are sent to AWS Eco Plastic Lincolnshire. The plastic recovered from the bottles ends up in a wide variety of new plastic products including fleece jackets, pipes, packaging and toyss - www.awsecoplastics.com
Tins, cans, aerosols and foil are sent to a company called AMG in Wales, where they are turned back into more tins and cans

Why haven’t all of my materials been collected?

If they're not accepted in the Green Box, they won’t be collected. See the list of materials that can and can’t be accepted for collection.

What kind of plastic can I recycle?

All plastic bottles and most plastic packaging can be recycled through the green box service. If it's shaped like a bottle, and made from plastic, you can recycle it. Similarly packaging items such as margarine containers, ice cream tubs, yoghurt pots and fruit pun nets can all be recycled. If in doubt please check the items that cannot be recycled or call the recycling hotline.

Remember to wash and squash plastics so they are free from any food and take up less room in your box.

Where should I leave my Green Box?

The Green Box should be placed at the front boundary of your property where it can be easily seen by the collection crew, by 7:30am on your collection day. Please do not leave your box on the pavement unless this is unavoidable.

What is my correct collection day?

See the ‘downloads’ section at the right hand side of this page. You can check what day your recycling is collected here.

What if I have trouble taking my Green Box out to the kerbside?

Residents can get help lifting their recycling by asking for an assisted collection. The collection crew can take it from the doorstep of a property to the collection point. The crew cannot enter properties. Phone the recycling hotline to arrange this.

My recycling was not collected today

Please do not report a missed collection before 4:30pm, as the crew are still collecting at this time. If it is after 4:30pm, please phone the recycling hotline.

If an entire road is missed it may be that there have been access problems and a smaller vehicle will be sent the following day. You can minimise the chance of a missed collection by ensuring your box is at the boundary of your property and clearly visible by 7.30am on your collection day.

Compulsory recycling - tell me more

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the London Borough of Hackney can legally require residents to use particular containers for different waste materials. Under the compulsory recycling initiative, the Council does not allow residents to put paper tins and cans or glass in the general waste but provides a Green Box for these items to be collected separately for recycling. In February 2006, compulsory recycling was successfully introduced to some areas of Hackney. From 1 March 2007, it was made compulsory for all Hackney residents in street level properties serviced by the Green Box to recycle paper, tins and cans, and glass. It is not compulsory for residents in high rise properties to recycle, or for residents of street level properties to recycle through the Blue Bin kitchen waste or Brown Bin garden waste schemes.

Why make recycling compulsory?

Every local authority in the UK has to meet recycling targets set by central Government. Failure to meet these can result in large fines for the Council. While recycling in Hackney has come a long way in a short space of time, we are still struggling to meet our targets and need to encourage more people to recycle more materials, more often. When trialled in Hackney, compulsory recycling increased the recycling rate and was supported by residents.

What happens to the money from the fine?

The aim of the initiative is not to make money for the Council. Any money received from fines is held by the Magistrates Court, the Council does not receive any of it. Making recycling compulsory was not introduced to punish residents for not recycling, but to raise awareness of recycling services and to get those residents who currently do not make use of the Green Box service to do so.

How is compulsory recycling monitored?

Green Boxes are collected weekly, so it is easy to monitor which households are not participating. Monitoring is carried out over a four week period. Any resident that has placed their Green Box out containing paper, tins and cans or glass in a four week monitoring period is considered to be recycling, and will not be monitored until the start of the next monitoring period. Residents who persistently and deliberately fail to use the Green Box collection for paper, tins and cans and glass may be served with a formal legal notice and may then be prosecuted and fined up to £1000.

How can you tell who is and isn’t recycling in shared buildings?

All new Green Boxes carry space to write in flat and house numbers. It is important residents do this to assist monitoring and reduce confusion over box ownership.

Does Hackney have a reuse and recycling centre?

Civic amenity sites or recycling and reuse centres are depots where the public can take general waste and recyclables. Hackney does not have a CA site. The Council does however, have an agreement with Islington Council which allows Hackney residents to use their facilities.

Location

40-42 Hornsey Street
Islington
London
N7 8HQ
Tel: 020 7527 2000

Opening times

Mondays to Saturdays, 8am to 8pm, Sundays and public holidays: 8.30am to 8pm, Christmas Day and New Years Day: closed.

Page updated: 8 Feb 2010

Email:	recycling@hackney.gov.uk
Tel:	020 8356 6688
Fax:	020 8356 2080