Recycling Tips and FAQs

All plastic packaging including soft plastics (that you can scrunch in your hand)and rigid (hard) plastics can go in your recycling bin provided it is Clean, Dry & Loose.  This includes all plastic films from your shopping, plastic bottles from milk, water and beverages; plastic tubs, containers and food trays; yogurt pots; soap, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles.  You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

A soft plastic is any type of plastic that you can scrunch in your hand. Soft plastics are now accepted in the recycling bin due to advancements in technologies at recycling facilities in Ireland. There are a wide range of soft plastics including:  plastic wrap on products, plastic labels, plastic packaging pillows, bubble wrap, bread wrappers & pasta bags. You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

A rigid plastic is any type of plastic that does not lose its shape. Rigid plastics can go in your recycling bin.  There are a wide range of rigid plastics you can recycle, including: plastic bottles from milk, water and beverage bottles; plastic tubs, containers and food trays; yogurt pots; soap, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles. The colour of rigid plastics does not matter.  You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

Soft plastics can now be placed in your recycling bin as there have been advancements in packaging design, and investment in recycling technology, allowing segregation of different material types in recycling facilities in Ireland. All plastics can now be placed in the household recycling bin once they are clean, dry and loose.

You can continue to recycle your plastic items as before. The difference is you can now place your soft plastic packaging in the recycling bin. By doing this you are helping Ireland to achieve its increased packaging recycling targets set by the EU. Currently in Ireland we recycle 31% of all plastic packaging. By 2025 we will need to recycle 50% and by 2030 we will need to recycle 55%. Join us to help Ireland reach its plastic packaging recycling targets.  You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

Plastic items placed in your recycling bin need to be clean, dry and loose. This means there should be no food or liquids left on/in your plastic items, and you should place all the items loosely in the bin and not in plastic bags or stuffed into other materials such as boxes.

There is no need to vigorously clean soft plastics. Once the plastic is free from food waste and is dry it can be placed in the recycling bin. Remember to place all items into the recycling bin clean, dry and loose.

Yes, bubble wrap is a soft plastic and is now accepted in your recycling bin. You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

Yes, plastic carrier bags are soft plastic and are now accepted in your recycling bin. You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

Yes, crisp packets are considered soft plastic and are now accepted in your recycling bin. You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

Yes, sweet wrappers are a soft plastic and are now accepted in your household recycling bin. You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

Yes, plastic product wrapping such as the film found on a packet of toilet roll / new mattress is now accepted in your recycling bin.  You can find a full list of items that can be put in your recycling bin on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page or MyWaste’s What to do with A-Z list.  Please place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose. 

After collection, soft plastics are brought to material recovery facilities (MRFs) in Ireland to separate the plastics into different polymers. If the plastic types are recyclable they will be sent to specialised, polymer specific recycling facilities. If they are not currently recyclable they will be sent as a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) to replace fossil fuels at Cement Kilns.

Yes, your chosen waste collector will be accepting soft plastics once they are placed in your recycling bin, clean and dry and loose.

‘Dry recyclables’ is a term used to describe all the items that can go in your household recycling bin, including paper and cardboard, rigid plastics, and metallic packaging (cans, tins and foil). You can find a full list on our ‘What can I recycle?’ page. Please remember to place items in your recycling bin - clean, dry and loose.

There is a good logic behind the request for your items to be placed in the recycling bin clean, dry and loose. If you think about what is going into your recycling bin, any moisture or leftover food will contaminate the paper and cardboard and make it unacceptable for recycling. Food will also attract vermin to your bin and to the recycling centre and will cause odours. In fact, your contaminated bin could also contaminate your neighbours clean items in the bin lorry. When rinsing items for recycling, we ask you not to waste water. In the kitchen, use water you are using to rinse dishes for example, and in the bathroom, empty shampoo or shower gel bottles and close the lids before recycling. There is no need to rinse out toiletry and cleaning product bottles, just ensure the lids are closed to prevent any spillage. The are many reasons why you are asked to place items in the bin loosely. Items must be loose so that the machinery and human hands at the recycling facility can easily sort the waste into the different materials: plastic, paper, aluminium, steel and cardboard. You will also fit a lot more items in your recycling bin if they are loose!

No, you should leave the lids and labels on your plastic beverage bottles or any toiletry or detergent bottles you place in the household recycling bin. Just make sure that bottles are clean and dry. You can also squash bottles to make more space in your recycling bin.

Yes. Glass bottles and jars are very easily recycled and can be brought to your local bring/bottle bank or recycling centre. You can see a full list of these nationwide facilities on MyWaste.ie Some waste contractors will accept glass in household recycling bins – please check with your bin collector.

Items need to be dry enough to prevent them making paper and cardboard in your recycling bin soggy. Most people rinse items and let them drip / air dry, before placing in the bin when they are dry.

The first and most important rule of good recycling, is to place recyclables in your household bin clean, dry and loose. This means there should be no food or liquids left on your recyclable items (as these will contaminate the paper and cardboard in your bin), and you should place all the items loosely in the bin and not in plastic bags. When placing items loosely in the recycling bin, please separate the items and don’t put one into another. You should also open out and flatten cardboard boxes if possible and squash bottles to give you more space in your recycling bin. Please leave lids and labels on plastic bottles. With paper and cardboard, there is no need to tear the item up, it will be picked up more effectively in the recycling plant in large pieces (and you should not put shredded paper in your recycling bin as the pieces are too small).

The waste from your recycling bin is brought to one of the many recycling facilities around the country where it is sorted out both by staff and machinery. The materials are separated into groups of plastic, paper, aluminium, steel and cardboard. The materials are baled, and then redistributed to specialist companies who reuse these materials to create new raw materials for packaging and other products.

Yes, you can place the steel lids from jam and other glass jars in your household recycling bin. Or, if you like, you can put the lid back on the glass jar to deposit at your local bottle bank, where it can also be recycled. Please just make sure any lids recycled are clean and dry. You can also recycle other metallic items such as food tins, beverage cans, biscuit tins, aluminium trays and beer bottle lids. Metals are very easy to recycle as they are detected at the recycling facility by large magnets.

Yes, you can recycle most glass perfume bottles, depending on the colour of the glass. If the glass is clear, green, brown or blue it can go into the relevant bottle bank. You can leave the spray pump and lid on as these will get crushed and sorted out in the recycling process. Any blue bottles can go into the green glass bank. Frosted bottles can go in the clear bottle bank. Any other colours (pink, red etc) can go into the brown glass bank.

Yes, newspapers and magazines are made from paper so you can place these in your household recycling bin.

You can place clean, dry paper napkins and paper towels in recycling bin, however why not reuse them first to dry your recyclables or for cleaning? If kitchen paper or napkins are wet or soiled with food, you can place them in your compost bin, but if you have used them with chemical cleaning agents, please dispose of them in the general waste bin.

Yes – if it is clean. You can recycle clean tinfoil (such as a piece used to cover dry leftover food) by scrunching it into a ball before putting it in the recycling bin. If tinfoil is soiled it must go in your general waste bin.

Yes, if you cannot reuse books by passing them on to others or donating them to a charity shop, you can place them in your household recycling bin, as they are made of paper.

No. You should not put polystyrene in your recycling bin. It should go in your general waste bin or alternatively you can bring it to a supporting recycling centre (civic amenity site) free of charge. You can find a full list of these facilities on MyWaste.ie

You can ask your waste contractor for a second recycling bin, which is provided at a minimal charge. Or you can look at ways to fit more items in your recycling bin. Are you placing items loosely in the bin? Are you squashing cardboard boxes and plastic bottles? Are you making sure that only the correct materials go in your recycling bin?

You should not place any electrical items, batteries or bulbs in your household recycling bin or your general waste bin. These can all be disposed of, free of charge, at recycling centres (civic amenity sites) all over Ireland, as well as at many retail outlets. You can find more details on WEEE Ireland website or on MyWaste.ie

Yes, tetra packs are recyclable and they should be placed in the recycling bin clean, dry and loose. You can leave the lid on and squash the pack to compact it in your bin.

Yes, you can recycle a lot of your takeaway packaging, for example, plastic tubs, lids and aluminium trays, once they are clean, dry and loose. You can also recycle pizza boxes. If you get a takeaway pizza and the box is not heavily soiled (with grease for example) you can place it in your recycling bin. However if the box has a lot of food residue on it, you should put it in your compost bin.

Yes, rigid black plastic (such as used for meat trays or trays of biscuits) is recyclable and should be placed loosely in the household recycling bin once it is clean and dry.

Yes, you can recycle the plastic bottle element of the packaging but you should not place the dispenser in your recycling bin as it has a metal spring that cannot be recycled at the recycling facility. Many manufacturers are now making refills for these bottles, so that you can reuse the dispenser many times. If you have to dispose of the dispenser, please place it in your general waste bin.

Yes, these are made of rigid plastic or glass and you can place them in your household recycling bin. You can also leave the lids/caps on the bottles. Remember to make sure that they are placed in your recycling bin clean, dry and loose.

Most wrapping paper is made from light card or printed paper. However shiny or metallic gift-wrap is made of plastic film. You can place normal (paper based) wrapping paper in your household recycling bin, but shiny or metallic gift-wrap must go in your general waste. There are a couple of simple ways you can tell if wrapping paper is made only from paper – firstly, you will be able to tear it by hand, and secondly, you can scrunch it into a ball and it will stay scrunched. Gift wrap made from plastic will not tear by hand (you will need a scissors) and if scrunched will pop back out. Also remember that any bows or ribbons used as decoration on gifts are usually made of plastic and these cannot be recycled and must go in your general waste bin.

No, you don’t have to remove any labels on tins or bottles before placing them in the household recycling bin. The labels will be removed as part of the recycling process when the materials arrive at the recycling facility. Please make sure you place all the items in your recycling bin – clean, dry and loose.

We have developed a primary schools programme called 'Team Green for Schools’ which offers a range of resources to help teachers educate children on recycling in and outside of the classroom. You can download these materials for free in English and Irish. You can also join our Team Green campaign and pledge to reduce, reuse and recycle better. Repak does not offer bins – these can be arranged through your waste operator.

Yes, but you must bring these to a local charity shop or clothes bank. You should never dispose of clothes in your household recycling or general waste bin. If you cannot reuse items, drop the best items into a local charity shop and dispose of other items at your local clothes bank. Many clubs and schools also hold fundraising collections of used clothes and shoes, so this may be another option for you.

Local authorities are multi-purpose bodies responsible for delivering a broad range of services in relation to: roads; traffic; planning; housing; economic and community development; environment, recreation and amenity services; fire services and maintaining the register of electors.

You can find your local bring centre, bottle bank or recycling centre (civic amenity site) by checking the waste service locator on MyWaste.ie

If you would like a bottle bank in your local area you must approach your local county council. Repak funds bottle banks throughout Ireland but we do not supply them.

If your bottle bank is full, you should report this to your local county council who will arrange to have it emptied by the relevant recovery operator.

The Green Dot is a European trademark that producers and suppliers add to their packaging to show consumers that they have contributed financially to the recycling of packaging they place on the market, by joining a scheme such as Repak. Please note that use of the symbol on packaging does not mean that the packaging is fully recyclable. Repak is the sole registered licensor of the Green Dot trademark for the Republic of Ireland under a legal agreement entered into with Pro Europe s.a.r.l.

The Green Dot is a European trademark that producers and suppliers add to their packaging to show consumers that they have contributed financially to the recycling of packaging they place on the market, by joining a scheme such as Repak. The Green Dot is not in itself a recycling symbol nor does it mean that the packaging material on which it is marked is either recycled, or made using recyclable content. It is more a mark of the producer’s environmental responsibility and contribution to the cost of recycling the packaging they place on the market.

Repak is a producer responsibility scheme that funds packaging recycling, through fees received from our members, for example, supermarkets. The membership fees our members pay are based on the amount and type of packaging they place on the Irish market. We use these fees to fund household recycling bins, bottle banks and recycling centres nationwide. Essentially, every Repak member is funding the recycling infrastructure in Ireland, including your household recycling bin. Under this system, you are expected to place your recyclable packaging in your household recycling bin and Repak members are not obliged to take it back in store.