Some cookies used are essential to providing a service, while others help us improve your experience and provide us with insights into how the site is being used.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page.

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work, please see our 'Cookies page'.

We'd like to allow Social Media cookies to provide a richer experience. These cookies will allow us the ability to list Fife Council tweets and Facebook posts, Google maps, audio clips & Videos on some of our pages. Our videos use Youtube's privacy-enhanced mode.

These cookies allow us to show relevant adverts to the content you are viewing. They also provide the ability to deliver targeted online advertising across other platforms like Facebook, Google, Instagram and the Quantcast network.

You find out how to recycle everything from aerosols to yoghurt pots below.

We have powers to deal with abandoned or burnt out vehicles.  You can report it online.

Recycle empty aerosols in your can bin at your local Recycling Point. If you have a green bin at the kerbside, aerosols can also be recycled here.  Please do not pierce, crush or flatten before recycling.

Clean aluminium foil, metal food trays and foil milk bottle tops can be recycled in the food and drinks can bin at your local Recycling Point or in your green bin at the kerbside if available.

Due to contamination from pet waste please do not put animal bedding in the brown bin. Put in your landfill bin or if your pet is vegetarian in your home composting unit.

Asbestos is a hazardous material that must be dealt with safely. Fife Council cannot accept asbestos waste at our sites. Householders should contact a waste management company licensed for asbestos disposal to dispose of this kind of waste.

Bag fire ash and once cool, place in the landfill bin. Please do not place any hot ashes into the bin as this could lead to a fire. Please do not put ash in the garden waste bin because it will not aid the composting process.

Batteries can be recycled at all Recycling Centres, at most large supermarkets and electrical outlets.

Ceramic bathroom suites can be recycled at your nearest Recycling Centres.  They can also be uplifted as part of the Bulky Uplift service.  Cast iron baths are too heavy for the Bulky Uplift service.

Donate bicycles a bicycle charity such as Bikeworks or on sites such as Freecycle and Freegle (external websites). Otherwise  Recycling Centres can take bicycles in the metal skip.

You can find out what services we offer by visiting our homepage at www.fife.gov.uk/wasteaware

You can find out your bin collection uplift dates by visiting www.fife.gov.uk/bincalendar

All empty plastic bin liners can be put into the green bin.

Recycle metal biscuit tins in the cans and plastic packaging bins at Recycling Points. Plastic or metal biscuit tins can be recycled in the green bin at the kerbside, if supplied.

Bones from meat or left over food can go into the brown bin if you are on the new 4 bin service. They cannot be home composted.

Donate books in good condition to charity. If your books are not in a good enough condition to be reused then you can recycle them in your paper and cardboard bin.

See Glass bottles or Plastic.

Take unwanted items or bric-a-brac to local charity shops or sell them at car boot sales. Local scout or guide groups may also like to receive such items for their fund raising jumble sales.

Please do not recycle broken glass items such as ceramics or window glass.  Wrap these items up in newspaper or place them inside a box and then dispose of them in the landfill bin.

Broken glass bottles and jars can still be recycled at Recycling Centres. Please be careful not to injure yourself while placing broken glass in the bottle bank.

Bubble wrap can be reused to wrap fragile items. If you can't reuse it, you can recycle it in your green cans & plastics bin.

Businesses must have a waste collection contract and separate their waste.  You will find registered waste carriers at SEPA or through a short internet search.  Fife Council also offers a Commercial Waste collection service.

Aluminium and steel cans can be recycled in the cans and plastic packaging bin at your local Recycling Centres or in your green bin at the kerbside, if supplied.

Recycle car batteries at one of 11 Recycling Centres within Fife.

See Paper and Cardboard.

Cardboard food and beverage cartons

Recycle food and beverage cartons (soup, milk, juice etc) alongside all other cans and plastics.

Recycle cards alongside all other paper and cardboard.

Carpets are difficult to recycle and are not collected locally. Take carpets to your nearest Recycling Centres or arrange for a Special Uplift.

Recycle catalogues in your paper and cardboard bin at the kerbside, at a local Recycling Centres.

Donate old CDs to charity shops or placed in the landfill bin.

See Paper and cardboard

You can't recycle toys but you can donate them to a local charity shop. Or list them on Freegle, Freecycle or similar sites.

China plates and ornaments

If these are unbroken, you can donate them to a charity shop. Otherwise place them in your landfill bin.

Large volumes of broken crockery can be recycled at your local Recycling Centres.  See Rubble for more information.

Chipboard and plasterboard cannot be recycled at present. Please place them in the landfill skips at your local Recycling Centres.

Place Christmas trees in your brown bin. Please ensure the lid can be closed. Or take your trees to your local Recycling Centres.

Your bin collections may change over the Christmas holidays. Check your bin calendar.

Clingfilm can be recycled in the green bin (please make sure it is clean).  If you wish to cut down on the amount of cling film that you use you can consider using reusable containers.

Clinical Household waste is not collected by Fife Council. Some clinical waste needs separate disposal in an incinerator. Your GP or NHS practitioner will tell you this.

Contact NHS Fife to clarify if your medical waste needs treatment in this way.

Donate good quality clothes and textiles can to others, to charity shops or place in a textile bank.  Clothes and textiles which are ripped or torn can also be placed in a textile bank.  If these materials cannot be reused then they can be shredded and used as cleaning rags.

Compost coffee grounds in your home compost unit or recycle in your brown bin if supplied.

Most charities have a scheme where you can donate with unwanted foreign currency.

Commercial waste - clinical waste disposal

Fife Council does not offer a commercial clinical waste disposal service. Please contact a private commercial waste company who may be able to help you. For more information contact NHS Fife.

To find out about home composting please visit Recycle for Scotland.

Recycle computers at your local Recycling Centres. We recommend that you delete personal data from the computer before recycling the unit.

Confidential waste can be dealt with in several ways. If you shred your waste then you can place it into your home compost unit or paper and cardboard bin at the kerbside. Place the shredded paper into an empty cereal box or wrap in newspaper to prevent littering.

Put cooked meat in your food and garden waste bin, if supplied.

Cooking oil is not collected for recycling in Fife but it can cause a problem if disposed of down the drains. Transfer cooking oil into a bottle with lid and place the bottle into the landfill bin at home or dispose in the landfill skip at Recycling Centres.

There are many ways to donate items that are still in good condition and can be reused by someone else.  Here are some of the ways:

Charity Shops – many local charity shops will take clothing, entertainment and bric-a-brac

Furniture Reuse – several organisations in Fife collect furniture to be refurbished and reused.

Online swap shops – sites such as Freegle, Freecycle and others are available for you to donate to other people.  One person’s trash is another person’s treasure

Selling online – there are many sites online that allow items to be sold on again for reuse

Drinks carton can be recycled in your green bin.

See clothing and textiles.

Unwanted DVDs and videos cannot be recycled. Donate to charity shops or given away online. See Donate above.

Recycle cardboard egg boxes in your paper and cardboard bin or compost at home. Plastic egg boxes can be recycled in your green bin.

Place eggshells in your home composting unit or in your food and garden waste bin if supplied.

Rubber elastic bands cannot be recycled, so keep them for reuse or if broken place in your landfill bin.

Recycle electronic and electrical equipment at your nearest Recycling Centres.  You will find containers for:

Consider donating working electrical equipment to a local furniture charity.  See Furniture Reuse for more information.

Recycle energy efficient bulbs at your local Recycling Centres or dispose in your landfill bin. If disposing of light bulbs in your landfill bin please place the light bulb into the packaging from your replacement light bulb, or wrap the bulb up in newspaper or bubble wrap.

Recycle envelopes with your Paper and cardboard. Padded envelopes cannot be recycled and should go in your blue landfill waste bin.

Take engine oil to one of our 11 Recycling Centres.  Please do not dispose of engine oil in the drains.  Brake Fluid can also be recycled in the Engine oil container.

See Clothing and textiles.

Please do not dispose of fat down the drains.  To dispose of fat please place it into a seal-able container and leave to solidify.  Once solid, seal the container and dispose of it in your landfill bin.

Soak fireworks thoroughly before bagging. Once soaked, put fireworks into your blue landfill waste bin or take to the Recycling Centres for landfill disposal.

Food waste is collected alongside garden waste in your brown bin, where supplied.

Recycle fridges and freezers at the Recycling Centres or arrange for collection via the Bulky Uplift Service.

If the unit is still in working order you could consider donating it to a local furniture charity.  See Furniture reuse below.

Place fruit and vegetable peelings in your brown bin if provided, or compost in a home composting bin.

Donate furniture and electrical items to charity.  There are two main furniture charities in Fife.

You could also consider donating your furniture or electrical goods.  See Donate for more information.

Garden waste can go into your garden waste bin or to your local Recycling Centres.

You can also compost your garden waste at home.

You can recycle gas cylinders at one of your local Recycling Centres.

You can recycle glass bottles and jars at a local Recycling Centres.  The metal lids can be recycled in the cans and plastic packaging bin.

Panes of glass cannot be recycled in the glass bottle and jar bins.  Please take glass panes to your local Recycling Centres to dispose of the items safely.

Hangers can be reused but if you have too many you can offer them to your local charity shop.  Broken hangers can be recycled in your green bin.

Fife Council do not collect hazardous waste. You should contact a licensed contractor, who will levy a charge for this service. Please dispose of hazardous waste responsibly and do not place into drains or waste bins.

Hoover dust cannot be recycled so please place this in your landfill bin.

Houseplants can be composted in a home compost bin or in your brown garden waste bin.

Please follow the manufacturer’s instructions to dispose of household chemicals.  Empty chemical containers can be recycled if given a quick rinse out.

In Fife we provide various methods for collecting household waste.  Use the links below to find out more about the recycling services that we provide at the household.  Visit our Household Waste Collections page to see the services we offer for residents.

Recycle ice cream tubs in your green cans and plastics bin, if supplied or in cans and plastics recycling bins at Recycling Centres. If you do not have a green bin please place these in the landfill bin.

Many charities and organisations can make use of these cartridges.  A quick internet search should show you the way.

See Glass bottles and Jars.

See Cooked meat or Fruit and vegetables

You do not need to remove labels from food and drinks cans, plastic bottles or glass bottles and jars.

Landfill is the term for the site where your household waste is sent too. All waste in your landfill bin goes to one of Fife's two landfill sites at Wellwood, by Dunfermline, and Lower Melville Wood, by Ladybank.

The waste goes into a hole in the ground and is then covered over with soil.

Some organisations can recycle these if you place them in the post.  A quick internet search will highlight some organisations that can do this.

See Paper and Cardboard.

Normal light bulbs cannot be recycled and should go in your landfill bin. Energy efficient light bulbs can be recycled. See Electrical equipment for further information.

Magazines can be recycled in your paper and cardboard bin at the kerbside, at some Recycling Centres.

If you want to reduce the amount of mail you receive please visit the Recycle for Scotland website.

Recycle margarine tubs in the green plastics and cans bin and in cans and plastics recycling bins at Recycling Centres.

Mattresses cannot be recycled at this current time. Mattresses cannot be recycled at this current time. Dispose of mattresses at a Recycling Centres or arrange a Bulky Uplift.

You can take your unwanted medicines back to the chemist where you bought it.

Metal tins and cans go in your green bin or in the food and drinks can bin, at your local Recycling Point. Take scrap metal to a local Recycling Centres.

Plastic milk bottles can go in the green bin at the kerbside, if supplied and in cans and plastics recycling bins at Recycling Centres.

If they are not broken then a local furniture charity may wish to use them. See Donate.  Broken mirrors should go into landfill skips at our local Recycling Centres.

Fife Council does not recycle mobile phones but many other organisations do.  A quick internet search will highlight many options.

Reusable nappies are a cheaper alternative to disposable nappies. They reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill and better for the environment. You can find out more about the Fife Real Nappy Library at Go Real.

Recycle newspapers in your paper and cardboard bin, at some Recycling Centres.

See Engine oil or Cooking oil

You can recycle plastic bottles, film, wrappers, bags, tubs and food trays in household green bins or in cans and plastics bins at Recycling Centres. For a list of plastics you can recycle visit www.fife.gov.uk/4bins.

Paint cannot be recycled but some local charity organisations reuse paint. If you need to dispose of paint, please leave the lid off and allow the paint to harden and then replace the lid. Or mix the paint with sand or cat litter to solidify the paint. Then this can go to your local Recycling Centres for disposal.

Recycle all your paper and cardboard in your paper and cardboard bin at home, at some Recycling Centres.

Place pet waste in your landfill bin. Please do not place pet waste in the brown bin, even if your pet is vegetarian, as this cannot be composted.

Photographs cannot be recycled, please dispose of unwanted photographs in your landfill bin.

You can recycle plastic bottles, tubs and food trays in household green bin or in cans and plastics bins at Recycling Centres. For a list of plastics you can recycle visit www.fife.gov.uk/4bins.

Bioplastics are not made from plastic, these are compostable materials and cannot be recycled with other plastics. Please put these into your blue landfill waste bin.

Save money and help the environment by reusing your old carrier bags or use a reusable bag.

Plastic bags, including shopping bags, bread bags and salad bags can go into the green bin to be recycled.

Polystyrene cannot be recycled. Please put in your landfill bin.

Polythene wrappers can go in your green bin for recycling.

Fife Council does not collect printer cartridges for recycling but many companies do.  A quick internet search will show you some of these companies.

Pyrex glass cannot be recycled in the glass bottle bank bins.  Please place any Pyrex into the landfill bin.

Do not recycle razor blades due to the danger they would pose when processed.  Please wrap these in a tissue or newspaper and place them into your landfill bin.

Fife Council offer Recycling Services through Household Collections, Recycling Centres.

Recycling - bags and containers

We provide recycling bins both at the household and at various locations around Fife.

For information on recycling at the household please visit our Household Waste Collection pages.

At the Recycling Centres you can recycle soil, brick, stone and rubble. Please do not place rubble in the landfill bin as this will cause damage to the vehicle.

Recycle scrap metal at one of Fifes 11 Recycling Centres.

Recycle shredded paper can in the paper and cardboard bin at your home, at some of our Recycling Centres.

Please wrap shredded paper in newspaper or in a cereal box to reduce the chance of this spilling onto the street.

Paired shoes can be recycled at the textile banks located at Recycling Centres in Fife.

Please recycle smoke alarms in the small electricals container at one of our 11 Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Please do not place soil into your garden waste bin at the kerbside. It can make the bin too heavy to lift and has no benefit to the composting process.  Recycle soil at your local Recycling Centres.

We offer a Special Uplift service to collect bulky waste from the household.  For further information please visit Bulky Uplift.

Old glasses can be given to charity or given in to some opticians for reuse or recycling.

Many charities collect stamps for a charitable cause.  You can also leave the stamp on your envelope when you recycle it.

Staples can be left on your papers and magazines when recycling. These will be removed during the recycling process.

Reuse plastic takeaway food containers where possible. Unneeded takeaway food containers can be recycled in your green bin.

Compost tea bags in the home compost bin or in your food and garden waste bin where supplied.

Some charity shops may wish to sell unwanted telephones but they can also be recycled at Recycling Centres.  See Electrical Equipment for more information.

Recycle telephone directories along with paper and cardboard. See Paper and cardboard.

Recycle Tetra Pak cartons and other similar brands (for example Elopak and SIG Combibloc) with your cans and plastics.

See Clothing and textiles.

Recycle tiles at your local Recycling Centres.

Take timber and wood for recycling to your local Recycling Centres.

The cardboard tube out of toilet paper can be recycled.  See Paper and cardboard

Toys and games cannot be recycled. Donate toys to younger children in the family, charity shops and even some doctor’s surgeries and hospitals.

Tyres cannot go to landfill by law. Most tyre companies will dispose of your old tyre when replacing it, but there may be a small charge for this.

Unwanted mail can be unwelcome to some residents.  Visit the Recycle for Scotland website to stop unwanted mail.

Compost fruit and vegetable peeling at home or through your brown bin. See Composting for more information.

Give DVDs and videos to local charity shops or maybe your local school could make use of them.

Wallpaper cannot be recycled as it is often a mixture of paper, plastic and glue.  Please place used wallpaper into your landfill bin.

Fife Council is committed, along with all other local authorities in Scotland, to the Scottish Governments Zero Waste Strategy.

Wrapping paper often comes in two forms, a paper and plasticised version. If the wrapping paper is easy to tear it can be recycled along with all other paper and cardboard. Plasticised wrapping paper is more difficult to tear and goes into the landfill bin.

You can still recycle the paper wrapping if it has sticky tape attached.

Recycle yellow pages and other telephone directories along with all other paper and cardboard.

Recycle yoghurt pots in the green bin, if supplied, or in cans and plastics bins at Recycling Centres.

We collect a wide range of materials for recycling and have one of the highest recycling rates in Scotland. We want to continually improve on this figure and have set out our plans in our Zero Waste Plan.  You can also look at the Scottish Governments Zero Waste Plan for more information.