Bonfire Night is a brilliant night, but the clear-up the morning after matters too. Hot or explosive leftovers in the wrong bin can start a fire in your bin or in the bin lorry. East Hampshire District Council says the main causes of its bin lorry fires are barbecues, hot ashes and batteries. Here's what goes where.
Never bin anything hot
Councils are clear: never put anything hot in any bin. That includes used fireworks, sparklers, bonfire or BBQ ashes and disposable BBQs. If you're not sure something has cooled down, leave it longer.
Used fireworks: soak, bag, bin
- Wear strong gloves and use tongs to pick up spent fireworks.
- Soak them in a bucket of water, ideally overnight, so there's no chance of them setting anything alight.
- Bag them and put them in your general waste bin, never your recycling.
Unused fireworks and duds
Unused fireworks should never go in any bin. Windsor and Maidenhead council says the safest way to get rid of them is to set them off following the instructions that came with them, and that its household waste recycling centres can't take them.
If a firework has been lit but hasn't gone off, never go back to it. It could still explode. For duds and damaged fireworks, follow your fire service's advice. East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service says to fully submerge them in a large bucket of water until they're soaked right through, which can take several hours, before bagging them for the rubbish bin. The retailer or manufacturer may have disposal advice too.
Sparklers
Sparklers stay hot after they go out. Put them hot end down in a bucket of sand or water as soon as they've finished, as fire services advise. Once they're cold, bag them with your other firework waste for general waste.
Bonfire ash and debris
Let ash go completely cold before it goes anywhere near a bin. Where cold ash goes depends on your council. BCP Council takes cold ashes in the rubbish bin, while St Helens asks for them bagged in its brown bin. Both are clear that hot ash never goes in.
Unburnt garden waste, like branches and leaves, can go in your garden waste collection if you have one, or to your local tip. For anything else left over from the bonfire, check what your council accepts.
Party food and drink packaging
- Cans, glass bottles, jars and plastic bottles: empty them, give them a quick rinse and put them in your recycling. In England, Simpler Recycling means every council should now collect glass, metal and plastic.
- Paper plates and cups: paper cups, and many paper plates, have a plastic layer, so they usually go in general waste. So do greasy, food-covered plates (Greater Cambridge Shared Waste).
- Leftover food: if you have a food waste caddy, that's where it goes.
Glow sticks
Used glow sticks can't be recycled. They're a plastic tube of chemicals with a small glass vial inside, so put them in your general waste bin.
Batteries from light-up toys and decorations
Batteries from light-up wands, torches, toys and fairy lights must never go in your bins. Recycle Your Electricals says binned batteries and electricals containing batteries caused more than 1,200 fires over the last year. Take them to a battery recycling point instead. Lots of shops and supermarkets have one, and some councils collect batteries with your recycling.
Gas canisters
Camping and BBQ gas canisters must never go in your general waste or recycling bin. They can explode in bin lorries and at recycling plants. Take them back to the company you bought them from for refilling where you can, or to your household recycling centre.
Planning a garden bonfire?
GOV.UK's garden bonfire rules are worth a read before you light one:
- You can't get rid of household waste in a way that causes pollution or harms people's health, and that includes burning it.
- You could be fined if you let smoke drift across a road and become a danger to traffic.
- If a bonfire's smoke and fumes become a "statutory nuisance", your council can issue an abatement notice, and you can be fined if you don't follow it.
GOV.UK suggests composting or recycling household and garden waste instead.
Check your council
Bins, bin colours and what goes in them vary from place to place, so your council's website is the final word for your address. If you're in Leeds, Wakefield or Kirklees, WhatBins shows your next collection days, so you'll know which bin is going out after Bonfire Night.
Life's hectic. Never miss a bin day.