A guide to rubbish

A Guide to RUBBISH!
Cardiff Council spends millions on cleaning the streets of Cardiff. As
residents it is our job to ensure we keep where we live tidy, that means
putting out of our rubbish regularly and correctly.
Collection days
Type of Rubbish
Recycling and
Food Waste
Red Striped Waste
Bags / Black bins
Cathays
Every
Wednesday
Wednesday
Fortnightly
Heath and
Whitchurch
Every
Friday
Friday
Fortnightly
Top tip: It is best to put
your bins out the night
before. You can place
them outside anytime
after 16:30 the
day before.
Unsure of your
collection date?
Add us on WhatsApp -
07809 331277
and message ‘rubbish’
or visit the Cardiff
Council Website.

What do I put in my Green Bin?
We all need to do our bit to ensure our household waste ends up where it should, to
counter those big scary landfill statistics. You can do this by recycling your household
waste correctly.
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Top Tip: Pick up green bags from
the Welcome Centre at the SU
Specific Items you can put
into your Green bin bags
✔ Aerosols
✔ Catalogues
Envelopes (without windows)
Glass bottles
Jam jar lids
Kitchen foil (preferably
scrunched in ball)
Magazines
Paper
Phone directories
Plastic fruit punnets
Yoghurt pots
Cardboard
Drinks cans
Food tins
Glass jars
Junk mail and flyers (remove
plastic wrapping)
Margarine tubs
Newspapers
Paper (shredded in separate
green bag)
Plastic bottles
Plastic ready meal
trays
General materials your looking at
putting into your Green bin bags
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Specific items you CANNOT put into
your green bin bags
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
✘
Newspapers
Cardboard ripped up and placed
into a green bag (yes, the ASOS
orders and the Amazons Primes.)
Plastic bottles
Washed plastic takeaway
containers.
Tins
Broken glass
Clothes or shoes
Electrical items
Kitchenware
Paint tins
Plastic toys
Video cassettes
CD’s or DVD’s
Coat hangers
‘Fake foil’ (e.g crisp packets and
cat food pouches)
Nappies
Plastic bags
Polystyrene packing or
takeaway trays
Wallpaper
If you don’t make sure you’re aware of what your putting in your bin
there is a chance you will receive a £100 fine from the council.

What do I put in my Food Bin?
Your food bins are collected weekly. It is important to utilise your brown food bin as much
as possible. Grabbing yourself some small food bin bags (caddy liners) can go a long way
in preventing any interference with your brown food bin caddies, yes we are talking about
seagulls. Keep your food bin in a safe place and covered at all times.
Examples of correct waste to put in
your food bin
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Top Tip: Pick up caddy liners from
the Welcome Centre at the SU
Tea and coffee grounds
Bread and pastries
Fish
Meat and bones
Fruit and vegetables
Dairy
General items you should be putting in
your Food bin
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Fruit and vegetable peelings
Left-over food
Eggshells
Teabags
Coffee grounds
Do not put any other materials other
than food in the food bin. No plastic
wrappers, glass or cardboard.
Top Tip: If you ever need to replace your food bin caddy,
or don’t have one. Get in touch with Cardiff Council.
What do I put in my Black* Bin?
*or Red Stripe Waste Bags. General waste cannot be recycled or composted. This means that
it is the largest contributor to our landfill sites. All this means for us is that we have to reduce
the amount we put into our black bins as much as possible. We can do this by concentrating on
what we are putting into our green and food bins.
What goes into my general waste?
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Broken glass
Disposable nappies
Cooking oil
Pet Waste
Plastic film
Top Tip: If you need to report a missing bin
you can contact the Cardiff Council.
In Cathays there are two methods for
disposing of general waste:
• You may have the black bin outside
of your property.
• Or you may use the red striped
waste bags. These will be
delivered twice a year by
Cardiff Council.

Top Tips for Recycling
Make it a team effort! There is no point
having one lonely eco warrior in the
house spending half their time in the
kitchen tutting at the state of the bins.
Make sure you are all aware of the
effects of not recycling responsibly. A
poster on the fridge can go a long way!
Avoid a fine! The last thing you
and your house want to be doing is
budgeting in a fine from the council. To
avoid the house debate over who even
put the polystyrene peanuts from their
ASOS order in the recycling bag just
make sure you are aware of what
cannot go where.
Talk to your neighbours! This will
help you with neighbourly favours in
the long run, if you have residential
neighbours don’t be afraid to ask their
advice on bins when you first move
in. You never know they may be the
friend you need when you run out
of red striped bags the night
before bin day!
Wrap estimates £140 million worth of
clothes end up in a Landfill each year.
Next time you are tempted to throw
away clothes drop them to one of
the charity shops on Crwys Road and
Albany Road or arrange a clothes swap
with your friends.
Top Tip: Have a crisp packet bin. Once the bin is full drop it to
the Welcome Desk at the SU and we can recycle it for you.
Tips on how to reduce your plastic waste!
A single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to
degrade. Have a bag of bags in your kitchen
to encourage all of your housemates to take
one with them before leaving the house! Or
even better keep one in your bag.
Try house food deals like Hello Fresh or Simply
Cook. You can get 3 meals for the week at
discounted prices and they are packaged from
recycling materials easy for you to dispose of.
A great alternative to the microwave meal.
Use a reusable water bottle. It doesn’t have to
be Love Island style; any bottle you fancy. This
may seem like a simple one but re-filling you
own water bottle can stop all those bottles in
your rubbish.
Don’t buy plastic straws! Whether it’s for a
pre’s or birthday party avoid throwing away
100’s of straws the morning after!
Re-use packaging, next time you order a
takeaway utilise the plastic boxes by keeping
them in your Tupperware draw.
Communal pasta and rice. This really helps
cut down on the amount of packaging you
have to put in your bins. Purchasing jars to
keep pasta and rice in for your whole house
and refilling them will save money and
unnecessary packaging. There is also a plastic
free shop in Cathays, so you can take your
pasta, rice and spice jars and refill them.