Help us recycle for Carlisle

We offer a range of containers to help you to recycle and manage your household waste from kerbside.

You can collect recycling bags and boxes from the Civic Centre during office hours. Alternatively, order a container to arrange delivery of any of these containers and wheeled bins. Charges apply for some containers.

Don't forget:

• Food and drinks cartons (tetrapak) can be recycled - please put them in your green bag with your cardboard and paper.
• We CAN collect black plastic trays. Our sorting systems do not have any issues with black plastic.
• Please place your containers out by 7am on your collection day so you don't miss the collection.

  For more information on which items can be recycled in each container please see our how to recycle guide. You can check your recycling collection calendar using the postcode finder. Thank you for recycling

What happens to my recycling?

• It is important that you put your recycling in the right bags and boxes. Our crews will empty your bags and boxes into our recycling collection vehicles; these may look like ordinary bin lorries but they have two separate compartments, running the length of the vehicle designed to keep the recycling separate.

• Plastic, glass and cans will be emptied into one side of the vehicle
• Paper, cardboard and food and drinks containers (Tetrapak) will be emptied in the other side

Placing the wrong items into your bags and boxes or putting out contaminated recycling (eg dirty food tins or take-away boxes with left-over pizza still in them) into your bags and boxes might mean that your recycling may not get emptied. Or, if it does get emptied, then the contamination can spread and affect the value of the material we collect. As recycling helps to generate income for Carlisle City Council it is important that we all take responsibility to avoid waste and maximise income as the money we receive from the onward sale of recycling is reinvested back into local services for the people of Carlisle.

All household recycling is taken to the local Material Recovery Facility (MRF) operated by our contractor, Cumbria Waste Management. All materials are sorted and separated on site at the plant at Hespin Wood. This material is then batched and sold to UK markets. 

For information, please visit our refuse and recycling webpages.