A lot has evolved on the recycling front, since I started this journey last year, and I thought I’d collect together the key info here for reference. Basically, what we can recycle is increasing, but is still not everything. [EDIT – updated Jan 2026]
By all means reduce the single-use plastic you buy to begin with, please. But if you must have it, recycle it!
Headline: rinse and flatten your bottles, then put the lid back on and add to your recycling
As of February 2019, Nuneaton & Bedworth recycling is now being collected by Coventry City Council, and since 2023 recycling is being process by the new Sherbourne Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). This means there is a longer list of plastics we can recycle in the kerbside collection.
Visit this page for more information for Nuneaton and Bedworth
FOLLOW THESE RULES: everything for recycling should be…
- Empty
- Clean
- Dry
- Loose – NOT in a bag
- Lids back on the bottles
- No black plastic
Note that anything smaller than 6cm will be sifted out and go to incineration, as will anything in a bin bag.
[Here’s a short animation of how plastic is recycled]
Soft/Flexible plastic – collect in a bread bag or cereal liner, and take to Tesco, Sainsburys, Co-Op, Asda and other supermarkets. This includes:
- crisp packets, biscuit wrappers
- bread bags
- salad and vegetable bags
- worn out carrier bags
Eventually they will be recyclable kerbside, but until your council tells you they’ve arranged for this, send them to the supermarket recycling points.
Medicine blister-packs: These are a mix of plastic and foil, and need specialist recycling. Currently, they are being accepted through many branches of Superdrug who collect them for Terracycle.
Coffee cups: These need specialist processing and can NOT be recycled kerbside. Costa has a recycling arrangement and is happy to take yours too – clean, empty and stacked.
Textiles: put in a bag marked RAGS and take to Heart Foundation, Salvation Army, or any charity shop that takes them. They can earn a few pennies from the Rag Man.
