Binman will refuse to take recycling if 1 item hidden inside

Rubbish collectors might be forced to ignore your bin until the next collection if you try to sneak in one common item that you’d think would be fine to put in there. Enjoying a takeaway pizza could mean your bins go uncollected next time they are due to be emptied if you put the pizza box inside.

Although most cardboard pizza boxes have a note on the side saying the material is fine to recycle, it’s rarely the case once they arrive at your doorstep, according to one binman. Putting greasy pizza boxes in your recycling bin means binmen can refuse to empty it.

While the cardboard itself can be recycled, it becomes useless once contaminated with grease from the cheese and toppings. This excess oil ruins the paper-making process, and binmen are trained to spot it and leave your bin uncollected.

Ashley, who goes by @Theno1.binman on TikTok, responded to a follower who asked about the rules surrounding pizza boxes and if there was any way to recycle them once used.

He said: “If [pizza companies] just don’t use them, [the boxes] can then be recycled. If you use the box and it gets dirty, and it has grease all over it, that part of it cannot be recycled.”

But, if part of the box hasn’t been touched by the pizza grease, it’s safe to recycle. Just split the box in half by tearing it and put the rubbers in the respective bins.

Ashley added: “Some councils might be different. They might say to put it in your compost bin, but please check with your council, because not all councils are the same.”

People should take proper care not to contaminate their bins by following all the proper rules when dividing up their rubbish. After a takeaway pizza, people should remove all stuck-on cheese, sauce, and leftover crusts from the box and put them in a food waste caddy (if your area has been supplied with one).

Remove all plastic dipping pots and sauce sachets from the box. Throw these away in your general waste bin instead of recycling, as they have also been contaminated by food.

“Cardboard and paper spend a significant amount of time in storage before they are processed. The food and grease residue end up going rancid after a while and attract the presence of insects and other animals.

“The cardboard is then washed with soapy water and a mixture of chemicals to remove any coloured inks or glue and mixed in a slurry with water. But it takes a fair amount of scrubbing to eradicate oil and grease.

“Therefore, the slurry becomes a mix of water with oil floating to the top, and it’s no longer possible to separate oil from paper fibres. Depending on the level of contamination, an entire batch [of recycling material] can be ruined by greasy pizza boxes.”