Recycling
COUNCIL RECYCLING 
Household recycling and waste
Almost all households have a green wheelie bin for waste that cannot be recycled, plus two recycling boxes – one blue and one green. Special arrangements have been made for properties that cannot use a wheelie bin.
The garden waste collection scheme gives one free reusable bag to every resident with a garden. Recycling and refuse are collected on alternate weeks. A calendar tells you whether you are in the ‘orange’ or the ‘purple’ collection area, and so which containers go out on which week. See below to find out what goes into which container.
Plastic and Tetrapaks (drinks cartons)
There are bins for plastic of all kinds (excluding plastic bags and plastic film) and drinks cartons at the Ferry Centre recycling point. The City Council has announced that kerbside collection for plastic will be starting soon.
Waste Recycling Centre
Oxfordshire County Council runs a large Household Waste Recycling Centre at Redbridge, just off the Abingdon Road, behind Redbridge Park & Ride. It is open from 8am-5pm Monday to Sunday. From April to September, it remains open until 8pm on Thursdays. It is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Please contact the Oxfordshire County Council waste management team on 08450 50 45 50 or see their recycling centres web pages for more information. Redbridge recycles many items that are not currently collected, including computers, batteries, wood, rubble, car oil, cardboard, plastic bags, and furniture. There is also a useful A-Z directory of where you can recycle goods
Bulky waste items
You can arrange for bulky items that are beyond reuse or repair, such as cookers, beds and computers, to be collected by the City Council. For items in reasonable condition please see Furniture and white goods recycling below.
COMMUNITY RECYCLING
Furniture and white goods recycling
Emmaus Oxford will take furniture in reasonable condition, white goods in working condition, and old computers and televisions at their Secondhand Superstore in North Way. These are sold at low prices to people on benefits or low incomes. They will collect if given notice (3 weeks' notice is ideal) but you can also take the goods yourself. To arrange a collection or delivery tel. 763698 or email: furniture@emmausoxford.org. Further details of the Emmaus project can be found here.
Green Balloon Days or Greencycling
Green Balloon Days are organised by individual streets or groups of streets. Residents put unwanted items outside their houses and show that they have done so by hanging up a green balloon. Anyone is welcome to come along, see what is available and take away anything they like. Reuse is the greenest form of recycling.
Swap Shops
Swap Shops offer a chance to exchange all kinds of unwanted items. Just simply
bring… or take… or swap! Anything you bring should be genuinely re-usable, non-hazardous, non-electrical, clean and able to be carried. See this site for local Swap Shops.
Plastic bags
These can be taken to the Redbridge Waste Centre.
Brita water filters
Brita water filters can be taken to Cargo for recycling.
Shoes
Old, but still usable, shoes can be taken to Excel Dry Cleaners.
Charity shops
There are several charity shops in Summertown that are glad to receive unwanted items in good, saleable condition, such as Oxfam, Scope, Blue Cross and Animal Sanctuary. No electrical goods.
Oxford Freecycle
The Oxford Freecycle™ Network is open to all in the local area who prefer to recycle to others, rather than throw away unwanted items such as bicycles, pianos, electrical goods, furniture, just about anything. You post a message listing items you are either offering free or looking for yourself. Charity organisations will be informed of this site so they too may be in touch to pick up your things. Rules: all items must be free, and no commercials. Click this link for more information.
Daily Information
You can advertise items for sale, to swap or to give away in Daily Information. This is published as a broadsheet at least once a week (three times a week in university term time) and displayed all over Oxford. It is also available online.
Noticeboards
You can advertise items for sale or to give away by putting a notice in the window of Pen to Paper or Martin’s newsagent, for a small weekly charge.
BUSINESS RECYCLING
Office Furniture and other office or trade items
Retrader.org.uk is a website that allows businesses and other organisations to pass on materials they no longer need and get pre-used materials from others. There are a range of different categories of items and materials that can be exchanged, from batteries to paper and furniture to paint and pallets. Visit the website for more details
.
Here's what you can put in the recycling boxes and bags:
Yes |
No |
| glass bottles | broken or sheet glass |
| glass jars | plastic bags |
| newspapers | cards and cardboard |
| magazines | envelopes |
| office paper | directories |
| food/drink cartons |
Blue box
If you are in any doubt about any item, please put it into your rubbish container.
| Yes | No |
|---|---|
| Plastic | |
| plastic drinks bottles | polystyrene |
| plastic milk bottles | clingfilm |
| plastic shampoo bottles | plastic food trays |
| plastic cleaning products bottles | plastic sandwich packaging |
| plastic bottle tops | plastic carrier bags |
| marg tubs | |
| yogurt pots | |
| ice cream containers | |
| plastic toys/gadgets | |
| bubble wrap | |
| Cans | |
| aluminium drinks cans | food-soiled foil items |
| aluminium foil | metal lids from glass jars |
| metal food tins | metal bottle tops |
| Card/Cardboard | |
| any clean cardboard and greetings cards | Tetra-pak cartons |
| any cardboard labels | |
| toilet roll inner tubes | |
| Low-grade Paper | |
| junk mail | kitchen paper (even clean) |
| brochures | tissues (even clean) |
| wrapping paper | jiffy bags |
| art paper (pencil or pen) | art project paper (painted) |
| coloured office paper | glued collage projects |
| directories (inc Yellow Pages) | |
| catalogues | |
| envelopes (inc window ones) |
Garden waste bag
| Yes | No |
|---|---|
| grass cuttings | cardboard |
| hedge trimmings | soil/stones/hardcore |
| garden prunings | food/drink cartons |
| leaves | flowerpots |
| small shrubs | timber/logs |
| plants and weeds | metal |
| cut flowers | plastic |
| branches no larger than 7.5cm (3") in diameter | all kitchen food waste |
| household waste | |
| pet waste | |
| paper |
For more information go to the Oxford City Council recycling page.
