Bin man ‘speechless’ over common item people keep putting in recycling bins

A bin man is pleading with people to stop putting a certain item in their recycling bins, calling the practice ‘selfish’ as households struggle with overflowing general waste

A bin man has criticised “selfish” residents for placing one particular item in their recycling bins simply because their general waste is full. He used social media to urge parents to stop contaminating recyclable materials with used nappies, insisting there’s no justification for disposing of them in recycling bins.

In a TikTok video, user @theno1.binman questioned why parents persist with this practice when they’re aware nappies belong in general waste, suggesting it might stem from insufficient bin capacity. He said: “I just don’t understand people like this. Why would you go to the effort? You have to dig down into your recycling bin to put a dirty nappy in there. Surely it makes more sense to just put it in your general waste bin?”

If space is the problem, he recommends removing recyclable items and transferring them to the recycling bin instead, which would create additional room in the general waste container.

He added: “You’ve now got more bins than ever. You don’t have to be hiding stuff – it seems like a lot of effort.”

Responding to his post, one user said: “They collect general waste every three weeks – what am I meant to do, keep them for three weeks? No thanks.”

Another user added: “Put it in a cardboard box inside the recycling bag. Never going to get caught.”

A third user said: “When the bin men go on strike, I smear dog poo on the bin when the strike is over.”

One more user added: “I do it out of principle.”

Items that cannot be recycled

Recycle Now has set out the following guidelines for common baby-related items that cannot be recycled:

Disposable nappies

• Disposable nappies should be placed in your general waste bin.
• While it is possible to recycle disposable nappies, this service is not widely available to households at the moment. The recycling industry is working on this, and it may become available in the future.

Cotton wool

• Cotton wool is not recyclable and should be placed in your waste bin.
• Do not flush cotton wool down the toilet, as it expands when wet and can cause blockages.

Tissues

• Although tissues are made of paper, they consist of very short fibres that are not high enough quality to be recycled. They should therefore be placed in the waste bin.

Wet wipes

• Baby wipes, cosmetic wipes, cleaning wipes and moist toilet tissues are not recyclable and are not flushable – even if labelled otherwise. They should always be placed in the waste bin.