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.
We can recycle:
- All plastic bottles
- Rigid plastic packaging and cartons, such as Tetra Pak
- Food trays and coffee pods
- Cling film and polythene wraps
- Carrier bags
You need to rinse dirty packaging, squash plastic bottles and put the lids back on.
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.
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
While we collect your recycling and waste materials from the kerbside, recycling centres are operated by Essex County Council.
ECC have different processes and end destinations for the materials they receive. Their recycling centres can only accept plastic bottles, and they send all other plastics to landfill. Therefore, we recommend that you put out your plastics for recycling at the kerbside.