Food Waste & Recycling
For information on how to prepare your waste/recycling for collection, please click the links below.
Food Waste - all cooked and uncooked food waste
How to recycle
1. Put all your cooked and uncooked food waste into your kitchen caddy.
2. Line your kitchen caddy with one of the liners provided by East Lothian Council.
3. When it is full tie the liner and remove the bag and put the tied bag into your outdoor caddy.
4. Place your outdoor caddy at the kerbside by 07:00 on your collection day, ensuring the lid is locked shut.
What to Recycle
in your outdoor silver caddy
- Dairy & eggshells
- Pet foods
- Fruit & vegetables (& peelings)
- Bread & cakes & pizza
- Rice, pasta, beans & pluses
- Tea bags & coffee grounds
- Unpackaged out of date food
- Liquids & oils
- Any plastic or compostable packaging or bags, except for the liners provided by East Lothian Council
- Animal faeces or bedding
Need more liners?
Each roll of liners includes a request tag. Secure this to the handle of the outdoor caddy when you present it for collection and a new roll will be left for you.
Plastics, Metals & Cartons - plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, tins, cans and aerosol
How to recycle
1. Rinse your metals, and wash and squash your plastics and cartons.
2. Place your clean squashed plastics, metals and cartons, lids and tops into your white bag.
3. Seal your white bag and place it at the kerbside for 07:00 on your collection day.
4. Materials are taken to a facility to be sorted and then sent for recycling.
What to Recycle
in your white weighted bag
Plastics - washed & squashed
- Food & drink bottles
- Toiletry bottles
- Tablet & medicine bottles
- Food pots, tubs & trays
- Detergent bottles & tubs
- Lids & tops
Metals - empty & rinsed
- Tins & drinks cans
- Empty aerosols
- Clean foil trays
- Clean aluminium foil
- Chocolate & biscuit tins
- Lids & tops
Cartons - washed & squashed
- Fruit juice, milk, soup & sauce cartons
- Plastic bags, liners & cling-film
- Bubble wrap
- Polystyrene
- Pouches, wrappers & packets
- Plastic cutlery
- Plastic netting
- Plant pots
- Compostable packaging
- Plastic & coffee cups
- Glass bottles and jars
Glass Bottles & Jars - all colours of glass bottles and jars
How to recycle
1. Clean your glass bottles and jars and remove tops and lids.
2. Place your glass bottles and jars into your green or black box.
3. Make sure your box has a cover tied on and place it at the kerbside for 07:00 on your collection day.
4. All glass bottles and jars can be recycled into new bottles and jars.
What to Recycle
in your green or black box
Glass bottles & jars
- Food & drink bottles & jars
- Condiment bottles & jars
- Toiletry & perfume bottles
- Crockery, ceramics & pyrex
- Windows & mirrors
- Drinking glasses
- Light bulbs
- Broken glass
Broken glass is hazardous. Please wrap it carefully in newspaper and put it in your non recyclable waste bin. - Plastic & metal lids & tops
Plastic and metal lids and tops can be recycled in your white bag.
Paper & Card
How to recycle
1. Collect your clean paper and card for recycling.
2. Flatten boxes, remove windows and inserts and discard any bags.
3. Make sure your box has a cover tied on and place it at the kerbside for 07:00 on your collection day.
4. Paper and card will be delivered to a facility to be sorted, graded and recycled.
What to Recycle
in your blue box
Paper - clean and dry
- Newspapers
- Magazines, catalogues & directories
- Junk mail
- Letters & envelopes
- Office & shredded paper
Card - flattened
- Grey thin card boxes & packaging
- Toilet & kitchen roll tubes
- Toothpaste & toiletries boxes
- Plastic bags & wrappers
- Tissues & napkins
- Padded envelopes
- Kitchen towels
- Food & drinks cartons
- Coffee cups & paper plates
- Foil or glittered wrapping paper
Cardboard
How to recycle
1. Remove any protective packaging inserts and flatten your boxes.
2. Cardboard boxes can be tied in a bundle, or placed inside another cardboard box.
3. Place your cardboard for collection at the kerbside for 07:00.
4. Cardboard can also be recycled in a blue box, remember to make sure the box has a cover tied on.
What to Recycle
flattened - blue box or bundle
Cardboard - clean, dry and flattened
- Brown & white corrugated boxes & packaging
- Polystyrene
- Bubble wrap & air bags
- Packing peanuts
- Cardboard contaminated with food
Household Batteries
How to recycle
- Collect your batteries.
- Use an empty food caddy liner to contain them.
- Tie the liner securely.
- Place the bagged batteries on top of your covered glass box at the kerbside for 07:00.
Batteries are:
- Sorted into different chemical types.
- Combustible elements are removed.
- Cells are chopped up and gently heated.
- Metals are recovered by weight and used in new products.
What to Recycle
- All household batteries including 'button' batteries from watches
- Battery packs from laptops, mobile phones, power tools & remote control units
- Car Batteries
- Electrical items