Frequently asked questions about waste

It is important to separate and recycle your waste. When we recycle, the waste can be collected by our waste contractor at a lower cost. This saves a lot of money for the NHS. 

Recycling is much more energy efficient than creating new materials. Plus, when rubbish is sorted, it doesn’t get mixed up with other waste streams. That means more recycled materials can be used to make new products.

As one of the largest estate owners in the UK, it's our priority to reduce and recycle waste as much as possible. 

Here's what we're doing:

• Installing more internal bins at our customer's properties, including general, Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR), glass, and food waste bins.
• Making sure that bins have labels that show what should and shouldn't go in them. 
• Putting up waste guidance posters in relevant areas.
• Replacing external general waste bins with Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR) bins.
• Providing bags for different types of clinical waste.
• Offering training to our colleagues to support you.
• Working with our waste contractors and suppliers to reduce waste where possible and improve our waste segregation and recycling.

You can put cardboard, plastic bottles, paper, tins and cans into the dry mixed recycling bin. 
But remember, don’t put your coffee cups, contaminated food wrappers, or hand towels in there because they can’t be recycled.

If you put the wrong rubbish in the recycling bin, the waste contractor might not collect it. This could cost extra money. 

If there's a lot of waste that can’t be recycled, then everything in the recycling bin might have to be thrown away like normal rubbish. That means we can’t recycle as much as we should.

The waste in your dry mixed recycling bin is sent to Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF). At the MRF, they separate materials like paper, cards, cans, and some types of plastic. These materials are then turned into recycled products.

Coffee cups are made of a mixture of paper and plastic (to make them both heat and 
leakproof), which means they're tricky to recycle. That is why you'll need to put them in your general waste bin.

Where possible, food should be placed in food waste bins. However, small amounts of food can be put in general waste bins.

No, glass waste should be placed in designated glass bins or general waste bins.

Paper hand towels should be put in general waste bins.

Packaging waste should be placed in dry mixed recycling or general waste bins.