Information is detailed below on what goes in your blue bin.
On your day of collection, please place your bin on the kerbside with the lid closed by 7am Monday to Saturday.
Unfortunately, we cannot take anything that is not in the bin. It is vital that all items are in the bin with the lid shut.
The programme to deliver over 83,000 green bins to homes across West Lothian is taking slightly longer than anticipated.
Extra resources have been brought in to make sure deliveries are completed by 1 July, which unfortunately means some homes may not receive a green bin before the first scheduled collection or in time to separate the materials.
So if your collection calendar shows a scheduled green bin collection in the transition period before 1 July, you can put out either your green or blue bin on this collection date and it will be emptied.
Blue bin collections will continue as scheduled, with all collections as stated in your calendar from 4 July onwards.
Thanks for your patience while we take this important step forward to help boost recycling rates and reduce West Lothian's environmental impact.
What can I put in my blue bin?
These items can go in your blue bin:
e.g. Newspapers, coloured magazines, brochures, catalogues, unwanted mail, envelopes, including those with windows, shredded paper, phone directories, yellow pages Tip: Remove the plastic bags from junk mail or magazines and put them in the blue bin too.
e.g. Cereal boxes, kitchen and toilet roll tubes, washing powder boxes, corrugated cardboard boxes Tip: Flatten cardboard boxes to save space.
For more information on what can go in your green bin please see the Green Bins page.
e.g. Yoghurt and pudding pots, noodle pots, ready-made soup and pasta pots.
e.g. Ice cream, margarine tubs, ready meal tubs. Tip: Take the lids off and put them in the blue bin too.
e.g. ready meal and microwave food trays, fruit punnets, biscuit trays Tip: Rinse to make sure they are not contaminated by food waste.
e.g. lids from plastics bottles, margarine tubs, ice cream tubs and coffee jars. Remove lids and put them in the blue bin.
e.g. Plastic drinks, detergent and shampoo bottles. Lightly rinse and squash them to save space. Tip: Remove the lids and put them in the blue bin too. You can recycle clear and coloured plastic.
e.g. Clean carrier bags, bread bags, pre-packed vegetable bags, cereal and pasta bags. Tip: Please don't put anything inside plastic bags, it prevents them being separated at the recycling facility.
e.g. Newspapers, coloured magazines, brochures, catalogues, unwanted mail, envelopes, including those with windows, shredded paper, phone directories, yellow pages Tip: Remove the plastic bags from junk mail or magazines and put them in the blue bin too.
e.g. Cereal boxes, kitchen and toilet roll tubes, washing powder boxes, corrugated cardboard boxes Tip: Flatten cardboard boxes to save space.
e.g. juice, soup, custard and smoothie cartons. Tip: Flatten to save space and remove lids and put them in the blue bin too.
Tip: Make sure aerosol cans are as empty as possible and that foil and cans are not contaminated by food waste. You don't need to remove labels. Put the lids in the blue bin too.
What should NOT go in my blue bin?
Please be aware that tissues, kitchen roll and paper towels cannot be recycled and should not be placed in the blue bin. These should go in your grey bin.
Please don't put these in your blue bin
Food waste spreads through the load when compressed in the collection vehicle, so the paper and cardboard becomes wet and dirty and can be rejected by the recycling facility or manufacturers This is our biggest problem with contamination.
Wet materials spread through the load when compressed in the collection vehicle, so the whole load can be rejected by the recycling facility or manufacturers.
Glass is usually broken by being compacted in the back of the collection vehicle and spreads when deposited at the recycling facility. It can then hurt the staff that sort the materials on the manual picking lines and it also contaminates the paper, cardboard and plastic, which means that it can be rejected by the manufacturers.
At the materials recycling Facility blue bin material is spread out by a low level bar as it goes onto the conveyor belts for mechanical, then manual sorting lines. If material is inside plastic bags it prevents it being separated for recycling. In addition unfortunately plastic bags often contain material like food waste, pet waste and general waste, which if opened spread across the conveyor belt, causing the whole process line to be stopped and cleaned, causing delays and increasing processing costs.
Clothing, textiles and shoes cannot be accepted in the blue bin. They also absorb any food and moisture when mixed with the load in the back of the collection vehicle and become soiled and unusable They also cause operational problem at the recycling facility as they wrap round the wheel of the conveyor belts at the recycling facility, which have to be stopped and cut out.
The recycling facility is not designed to capture this material.
Potential to damage sorting equipment and recycling facility is not designed to capture this material.
Waste electrical equipment cannot be processed at our blue bin recycling facility and those with batteries can also cause fires in our collection vehicles. We have a separate company who collect and recycle this waste from our recycling centres, therefore please take any small electrical items to one of our five Community Recycling Centres.
Batteries have the potential to cause fires in our collection vehicles or recycling facilities. Please take all batteries including household batteries, rechargeable batteries, lithium ion batteries and car batteries to one of our five Community Recycling Centres.
Plant pots and trays may adversely affect future recycling contracts and Zero Waste Scotland's Household Recycling Charter suggests plants pots are 'unacceptable' in plastic collections at present.
Like food waste, cooking oil and fat can spread through the load in the bin lorry and contaminate other clean recycling. Cooking oil can be recycled, just not in your blue bin or at our recycling centres, instead please check Zero Waste Scotland - What to do with cooking oil and fat? for more information on how to dispose of and recycle your waste cooking oil, or alternatively pour cooled cooking oil into a sealed bag or plastic container and place in your grey bin.
Top tips for blue bins:
Everything must be clean and dry - wet and dirty materials such as food and drinks wastes, nappies and pet wastes spread through the whole load and mean it can be rejected and landfilled.
Please do not place any material inside plastic bags. This prevents the material from being separated for recycling at the Materials Recycling Facility.
If your blue bin contains items in black bin bags or bin liners it will not be collected.
Please try not to compact the material in your bin, this can result in your bin being half emptied on collection day. If your bin is not fully emptied due to the material being compacted, or frozen together in winter months, it is your responsibility to loosen the material ready for your next scheduled collection. No additional collection will be provided for half emptied bins.
Due to health and safety of our staff, please ensure that your bin is not too heavy as this can result in the bin lip snapping when lifted onto the lorry. If your bin is deemed to be too heavy by our crew it will not be emptied and it is your responsibility to ensure items are removed so that the bin can be emptied on the next collection day. No additional collections will be provided for bins which are considered to be too heavy.
