Recycling In Teesside: The Full Facts

We’re all trying to do our bit for the environment by recycling more and more these days, but do really we know what we can and can’t put in the regular collections from our council refuse teams?

And does it all have to be cleaned and flattened before it will be taken away?

Recycling can be a confusing business, with plenty of urban myths and scare stories flying around. So here’s our exclusive guide to what local authorities across the Tees area say about recycling…

MIDDLESBROUGH

The amount of waste recycled by Middlesbrough Council rocketed from around 300 tonnes a month in June 2013 to around 1,000 tonnes a month five and a half years later in January 2019.

Residents can even win a £50 voucher if they follow the “golden rules” of recycling and are chosen as the town’s top recyclers in a weekly competition.

Recycling is collected every two weeks, alternating with the collection of green waste in the spring and summer months, and should be at the kerbside – either in the special blue-lidded bin or clear plastic bags provided – by 7am on the correct day.

Middlesbrough and Stockton residents can use the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Haverton Hill Road, Stockton, to dispose of excess recycling waste. It’s open from 8am to 7pm in the summer and 8am to 6pm in the winter.

Items should be loose, not in bags, rinsed clean and squashed flat. Excess items can be put in plastic bags or sacks (but not black bags) beside the bin.

What can I recycle in Middlesbrough?

WASTE YOU CAN RECYCLE IN MIDDLESBROUGH

Glass bottles and jars
Newspaper, magazines, paper, flat folded cardboard, brochures, promotional leaflets, directories
Soft drink, fruit juice, soup and other cartons – these should be squashed of folded flat
Steel and aluminium food and drink cans and tins – these should be rinsed and squashed if possible
Yoghurt pots, ice cream tubs, plastic drinks, shampoo, washing up liquid, bleach and milk bottles (rinsed and squashed)

WASTE YOU CAN’T RECYCLE IN MIDDLESBROUGH

Broken glass, Pyrex cookware, bulbs, mirrors
Polystyrene foam packaging, used kitchen paper, wipes and nappies Takeaway containers including pizza boxes or any takeaway food containers
Polystyrene and foam packaging
Metal objects other than those named above
Rigid plastic (eg toys and beakers) Clingfilm, plastic bags

Click here for full details of the council’s recycling and refuse services.

STOCKTON

Again, the council collects every two weeks and asks residents to have their recycling out by 7am on collection day and take them back as soon as they are empty.

The council now supplies residents with white hessian sacks for plastic, cans and cardboard.

What can I recycle in Stockton?

WASTE YOU CAN RECYCLE IN STOCKTON

Clear, green and brown glass bottles and jars
Batteries in a separate, clear bag
Any plastic bottles (including milk, soft drinks, cooking oil, washing up, laundry liquids, shampoo and toiletries)
Yoghurt pots and spread tubs (cleaned out)
Drink cartons (such as those made by Tetra-Pak)
Pot Noodle containers
Plant pots
Breakfast cereal boxes
Cards (including glittery cards)
All brown cardboard (eg toilet rolls and kitchen roll tubes)
Cardboard boxes and shoe boxes, Pringles boxes, cardboard egg boxes and clean frozen food boxes
 Aluminium and steel tins and cans
Aluminium foil
Fully extinguished aerosols

Newer bags have a section for paper at the front that can be filled with…

Paper
Newspapers
Magazines
Catalogues
Directories
Promotional leaflets
Envelopes

WASTE YOU CAN’T RECYCLE IN STOCKTON

Hard plastic (eg toys and pens)
Plastic contaminated with food
Black bags and carriers
Crisp bags
Microwave meal and plastic meat trays
Toothpaste tubes
 Pizza boxes, cardboard contaminated by food, polystyrene (including egg boxes)

 Extra bags can be collected from Customer Services Centres in Stockton Central, Thornaby Pavilion Library and Billingham Town Centre libraries.

Homes are also given blue boxes to store glass and batteries to be recycled.

Click here for full details of the council’s recycling and refuse services.

HARTLEPOOL

Grey bins are provided for recycling.

What can I recycle in Hartlepool?

No list of allowed and not allowed items is provided, but there’s an online tool that allows you to check anything you’re not sure about here…

recycling.hartlepool.gov.uk/list/

Click here for full details of the council’s recycling and refuse services.

REDCAR & CLEVELAND

The authority spends £2.6m per year on waste disposal every year, enough to cover about 19 miles of its highways.

In a single year, it collected about 2,900 tonnes of paper and 963 tonnes of plastic.

What can I recycle in Redcar & Cleveland?

WASTE YOU CAN RECYCLE IN REDCAR & CLEVELAND

Residents are given blue recycling bins to be filled with cans, tins, empty aerosol dispensers, glass bottles and jars, white, grey and brown cardboard, plastic bottles and yoghurt pots.

There is also a paper caddy for newspapers, magazines, phone directories, softback books and other paper.

 If you have too much recycling, extra items can be placed in clear plastic bags and left beside your bin.

WASTE YOU CAN’T RECYCLE IN REDCAR & CLEVELAND

The council says the following items can contaminate loads and cost money to get rid of.

Foil trays, food and household waste, black plastic, pizza boxes, polystyrene, black bin liners, rigid plastics (eg toys), textiles.

Click here for full details of the council’s recycling and refuse services.

DARLINGTON

The authority points out that it cannot accept everything with a recycle logo, as some of these items are not taken by its recycling centre.

If you leave out the ineligible materials, you could get a sticker on your bin or box telling you the recycling is contaminated.

Residents who leave excess bags beside their binds could also face fines. Items will also be removed from overflowing bins and left behind.

Households with five or more people can ask for a larger 360-litre bin (normal bins are 240 litres). Call 01325 405111 or email streetscene@darlington.gov.uk to request a larger bin.

The authority no longer collects used cooking oil as the little oil collected was often contained and required costly disposal. Small amounts of oil can be put into your general waste bin.

Plastic and general household waste are turned into solid recovered fuel.

What can I recycle in Darlington?

WASTE YOU CAN RECYCLE IN DARLINGTON

Plastic (eg drinks bottles, yoghurt pots, containers and butter tubs)
Paper (eg magazines, junk mail, brochures)
Cardboard (eg cereal and egg boxes, greetings cards)
Steel and aluminium cans
Empty aerosols
Foil
Bottles and jars

Labels don’t need to be peeled off tins, cartons and bottles, as they can be recycled. However, you are asked to take caps, tops and plastic films off.

Anything marked PDE LEVEL 1, 2, 3 or 4 (except carrier bags) and 5 can be recycled.

WASTE YOU CAN’T RECYCLE IN DARLINGTON

Carrier bags
Polystyrene
Paint and oil containers
Garden and food waste
Clothes hangers

Click here for full details of the council’s recycling and refuse services.

I took out my first policy years ago because my partner’s family were with Tees Mutual. My partner pays £24 a month for a policy that also covers my son and I pay £20 a month. It means you’re not leaving all your funeral debts to your family when you’re not here. My agent, Andrea, is fantastic.

Wendy Kirk

43, shop assistant, Thornaby

I’ve had a Whole of Life for years and I and took out a Savings Policy so my son will have something when I pass on and I also get some money back when I’m 60. I wouldn’t want to think of anyone leaving debts to me when they died, so I wouldn’t want to do it to my own family. I wish I’d started a policy years ago, but you don’t think about it when you’re younger.

Lorraine Goldup

52, Hemlington

My partner’s mam and dad were members and we heard about Tees Mutual through them. I’m getting older now and if anything happened to me, I wouldn’t want my family to have to pay for it. We’ve had no problems whatsoever and my agent, Perry, is sound. The main thing is that everything's taken care of if something happens to me.

Paul Grant

50, house-husband, Middlesbrough

If anything happens to me, my family wouldn’t be able to afford to pay to bury me. Years ago there were lots of insurance calling to the door, but Tees Mutual is the only firm still doing it now. Allison, my agent, is just like one of us and it’s handy having somebody coming to the house every week.

Carol Frost

69, Brambles Farm, Middlesbrough

My wife’s mother started a policy years ago and I decided I’d rather not leave big debts to my children and so I’d take one out myself. It’s not a very nice thing to leave for them to deal with, is it? I pay a fiver a week to make sure there’s enough to bury me when the time comes. They’ve been smashing and my caller is absolutely brilliant.

David Reed

63, Middlesbrough

We’d only had our policies for about 18 months when my wife Marion died suddenly, just a fortnight after we came back from holiday. She was only 53. Our collector, Alison, made everything as easy as possible. She brought the paperwork to the house and we got the cheque for £5,300 the next day. That made a huge difference because we knew we had the money to pay for Marion’s funeral service and burial. Our family were very pleased with how they looked after us.

Paul Bird

59, South Bank

Tees Mutual does not provide financial advice. If you are in any doubt as to whether a policy is suitable for you, you should contact an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) for advice. An IFA may charge for providing such advice and you should confirm any cost beforehand. We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose website address is www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Tees Mutual is a trading name of The Kensington Friendly Collecting Society Limited, which is an incorporated Friendly Society under the 1992 Friendly Societies Act No. 79COL. KFCSL is Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. KFCSL’s Financial Services Register number is 110058.

The registered address of Tees Mutual and its subsidiary, Tees Mutual Services Limited, is 1-3 Kensington Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, TS5 6AL.

Tees Mutual, 1-3 Kensington Road, Middlesbrough SE16 3QT +441642850022 enquiries@teesmutual.co.uk