North East Lincolnshire recycle over 24,000 tonnes of cardboard and plastic in 2025

This is almost 4,000 tonnes more than last year and weighs the same as around 8 million bricks!

Throughout 2025, bottles, cans, glass, cardboard and paper were recycled in the blue and grey bins. From empty bottles at New Year’s Eve parties to the mayhem of wrapping paper at Christmas, everything adds up.

Additionally, 42,000 tonnes of waste was collected in the green bins throughout the year – the same weight as around 400 Blue Whales.

What goes in your bins

North East Lincolnshire Council have three bins to separate waste:

• Green bin – this bin is mainly used for household waste and any other non-recyclable materials
• Grey bin – this is used for recyclable material like plastic and glass bottles as well as cans and empty aerosols
• Blue bin – paper and cardboard along with shredded paper or magazines are deposited in the blue bin

Is the right thing going in your bin?

Sometimes it can be confusing what goes in which bin. Here are some common items that are put in the wrong bin and where they need to go:

• Tetra-pak – often these are placed in the blue bin, but should be put in the green bin
• Used pizza boxes – these should be placed in the green bin. Any material contaminated with food cannot be recycled and must be disposed of in the green bin
• Plastic bags – These can’t be recycled in the grey bin and should be placed in the green bin

For help understanding what goes where, visit What goes in your bins and recycling | NELC

The journey of your waste

North East Lincolnshire Council is proud to say none of its waste goes to landfill and if you’ve ever wondered how, look no further.

Recycling

Mixed glass bottles and jars, aluminium food and drink cans, and plastic recycling from the grey bins and the community recycling centres go to Bespoke Recycling Solutions. Here, they are sorted and sent to different destinations around the UK to be recycled and made into new items.

Paper and cardboard are sent to Palm Paper Limited- external site  where they are recycled and made into newsprint and cardboard.

Household domestic rubbish

The rubbish collected in your green household waste bin is delivered to NEWLINCS Development Limited and they’re responsible for its treatment and disposal at their Energy from Waste facility.

This rubbish is burnt in a combustor (aka a large oven), which releases scrap metal that are both recycled. Heat from the combustor heats the water in a boiler. The hot, high-pressured steam from the boiling water drives a turbine to generate electricity. The heat and electricity are used in the facility itself and the nearby factories.

NEWLINCS are also responsible for managing the collected household recycling that is delivered to them and stored at their site, before being moved on to recycling facilities listed above.

In addition, they operate and manage the Recycling Centres (the tips) based in Grimsby and Immingham.

If you have excess waste or larger products that won’t fit in your bin, the tips at Grimsby and Immingham are open from 8am to 6pm every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. For more information visit Recycling centres (the tip) | NELC.

Alternatively, you can arrange for North East Lincolnshire Council to come and collect up to 10 unwanted household items with the Bulky Waste collection service. For more information on the service, visit Bulky waste collections | NELC

Councillor Henry Hudson, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Net Zero, said: “It’s great to see all the hard work our bin crews are putting in throughout the year. They are a crucial part of what is one of the most important services in the Council.

“Thank you to the residents as well for taking the time and care to separate their waste into the correct bins to ensure we are recycling as much as possible across the borough.”