From Monday 16 November 2026, households in Brighton and Hove can put clean food and drink cartons, foil trays and foil in their mixed recycling, the city council has announced.
Until then, the council is asking residents to save these items up, or to keep taking cartons to the separate carton bins.
What changes on 16 November
The council says these items will be accepted in normal mixed recycling collections from Monday:
- empty food and drink cartons, such as those used for milk, juice, soup and plant-based milk
- crisp tubes and gravy granule containers
- foil trays
- foil scrunched into a ball about the size of a tennis ball or larger
Everything needs to be clean, dry and loose, not in bags.
Until now, cartons had to be taken to one of 68 bins with orange lids at recycling points around the city. The council says foil could not be processed, so there was no way to recycle it through council collections.
Why it is happening now
Cartons are made from a mix of materials, which makes them harder to recycle. The council says it has worked with Veolia to upgrade the Hollingdean Materials Recovery Facility, with new sorting equipment and changes to the site layout, so cartons can be sorted alongside other materials.
What the council says
Deputy Leader Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “Making it easier for residents to recycle cartons and foil is something we've wanted to achieve for a long time, and I'm delighted we'll soon be able to include them in our mixed recycling collections.”
He said collecting cartons with other recycling would save residents a trip to a recycling point and encourage more people to recycle them instead of putting them in with their waste.
He added: “Until the new service begins next week, please save them or recycle them separately instead of contaminating other recycling collections.”
How recycling in the city has grown
This is the latest in a run of changes to what the council collects. Plastic pots, tubs and trays were added to mixed recycling on 30 June 2025.
Weekly food waste collections began in the east of the city in September 2025. The council said the final phase, which started on 9 March 2026, completed the service for just over 136,000 properties.
In July 2026 the council set out a further £1.3 million for waste and recycling services. We covered that in our report on the council's bin collections investment.
What still cannot go in mixed recycling
- Plastic film and packaging, such as crisp packets, bread bags, biscuit wrappers and pet food pouches. The council says these can be recycled at larger supermarkets, along with carrier bags.
- Hard plastics, such as garden furniture and children's toys. These can be taken to one of the city's two household waste recycling sites.
- Glass. It must always be recycled separately in glass bins and boxes.
The council's full list of what can be recycled, and where, is on its Recycle Right page.
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