{"id":442898,"date":"2026-04-19T09:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/442898\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T09:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:34:18","slug":"bin-man-urges-households-to-stop-putting-1-common-material-in-recycling-bins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/442898\/","title":{"rendered":"Bin man urges households to stop putting 1 common material in recycling bins"},"content":{"rendered":"

A UK bin man has urging households to stop putting one common material in their recycling bins, as it can prevent refuse workers from emptying them since it can’t be recycled\"Adult<\/p>\n

A bin man has urged people to stop putting one common material in their recycling bin (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A refuse collector<\/a> in the UK has urged all households to stop placing one common material in their recycling bins<\/a>, warning that it can prevent waste workers from emptying them on collection day.<\/p>\n

The No1 Binman on TikTok<\/a>, a self-styled ‘binfluencer’, regularly shares helpful content assisting Brits in understanding proper waste disposal practices. The majority of his videos respond to questions received from his 168,700 followers, with his aim being to prevent people from placing different materials and refuse in the wrong bins, as doing so could result in bins being left unemptied on collection day. However, keeping track of all the various rules can be overwhelming and confusing.<\/p>\n

While some products carry logos indicating whether they should be recycled or disposed of in the general waste bin, this isn’t always the case.<\/a><\/p>\n

One material that frequently carries no markings regarding its disposal is polystyrene. Also known as Styrofoam, this material is commonly used for takeaway food containers and to package white goods such as microwaves. Polystyrene is also sometimes used for other food packaging, such as multi-pack yoghurt pots.<\/p>\n

While it may be tempting to assume this material should be recycled, the binman has now set the record straight, in an informative yet entertaining clip he posted on TikTok.<\/p>\n

“When Karen tries to explain why her recycling bin has polystyrene in it,” he wrote in the overlay text of the video.<\/p>\n

Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n

The video then saw the binman dance to Kylie Minogue’s song ‘Better the Devil You Know’, and specifically the lyrics ‘no more excuses, no no. Because I’ve heard them all before, a hundred times or more.”<\/p>\n

While some viewers praised the refuse worker for his video, it left others with further questions.<\/p>\n

“And where are we supposed to put polystyrene?” one viewer wondered. Meanwhile, someone else said: “But but the kids did it.”<\/p>\n

How to dispose of polystyrene<\/p>\n

According to the website RecycleNow, polystyrene, also known as styrofoam, should generally be disposed of in your general waste bin as it is difficult to recycle, breaks apart easily, and clogs machinery.<\/p>\n

For this reason, binmen may decline to collect rubbish, which they are entitled to do if bin contents breach council guidelines. Typical reasons include contaminated recycling (incorrect items), overfilled bins with open lids, excessive weight, or “side waste” (additional bags left beside the bin).<\/p>\n

However, large, clean pieces of polystyrene can occasionally be taken to specialist Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) or retailers for recycling. Do not place it in household recycling bins. Clean, moulded polystyrene can also be kept for future shipping, insulation, or craft projects.<\/p>\n

For guidance in your area, you can use a local council website or a search tool to check whether they have dedicated polystyrene recycling containers, as rules vary by location. Given how challenging polystyrene is to recycle, it’s advisable to try and avoid purchasing food and drink that comes packaged in it. If that’s not possible, simply dispose of the containers in your general waste bin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A UK bin man has urging households to stop putting one common material in their recycling bins, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[269],"tags":[18,440,25437,19,17,27002,133,1150],"class_list":["post-442898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-eire","tag-environment","tag-expert-advice","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-property-news","tag-science","tag-tiktok"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116430692379956735","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}