Clear sack for plastics

We provide clear sacks for you to recycle plastics, such as carrier bags, milk bottles and yoghurt pots.

You can check what you can and can't put in your clear sack by viewing our guide. 

If you can't find the item you want to dispose of in this list, you can search by item instead.

A collection of plastic items that we can recycle, such as bottles, rigid packaging, food trays, cling film and carrier bags

We can recycle: 

  1. All plastic bottles
  2. Rigid plastic packaging and cartons, such as Tetra Pak
  3. Food trays and coffee pods
  4. Cling film and polythene wraps
  5. Carrier bags

You need to rinse dirty packaging, squash plastic bottles and put the lids back on.

A collection of plastic items we can't recycle, including crisp wrappers, wax-coated coffee cups, bubble wrap and hard plastics

We can't recycle:

  • crisp wrappers and pill packets
  • wax-coated coffee cups
  • fruit and vegetable netting
  • polystyrene and bubblewrap
  • CDs, videos, cassette tapes and their cases
  • hard plastics, plastic toys and pens 

If you have a plastic product that we have not included, you can contact us to ask if it can be recycled.

Various symbols and logos found on plastic packaging

Some manufacturers label plastic packaging with numbers, which indicate the type of plastic, or logos.

In Chelmsford, we can general recycle types 1, 2, 4 and 5. However, this does vary, so we recommend you follow our guidance, rather than the symbols. 

Manufacturers also add logos to their packaging. These indicate that items are made from recycled materials, or the manufacturer has made a financial contribution to recycling efforts in Europe.  

Collection

We collect the clear sacks for plastics every two weeks. You can check your collection dates by entering your postcode or address.

Replacement sacks

Between September and October, we deliver a roll of clear sacks to every household. The roll contains enough sacks for you to use one a week, and should last for 12 months. 

You can't order a sack for plastics, but you can view our guidance on using your plastic sacks effectively. This includes advice such as not putting out half-full sacks or using sacks for other purposes.

What happens to your plastics

You can find out more about what happens to your recycling.

Taking plastics to the recycling centre

The household recycling centre, which is run by Essex County Council, does not accept many types of plastic for recycling. They can only recycle plastic bottles, and send all other plastics to landfill.

Therefore, we encourage you to recycle your plastic waste at kerbside.

Back to 'What goes in each bin'

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