Under the Simpler Recycling changes, councils will collect food waste separately, along with paper and card, other dry recycling such as plastic, metal and glass packaging and there’ll be a general rubbish stream for non-recyclable waste.

Homeowners face fines if they repeatedly ignore the new rules, so it’s worth knowing how to stay on the right side of them.

Some items can still be recycled but will need to be taken to recycling centres or supermarkets (Image: Getty)

37 items to be banned from household recycling wheelie bins from spring 2026

Waste experts at Wheeldon Brothers have shared the full list of items that cannot be recycled at home under the new rules in England.

Glass

• Candles
• Drinking glasses
• Flat glass
• Glass cookware such as Pyrex
• Light bulbs and tubes
• Microwave plates
• Mirrors
• Vases
• Window glass
• Ceramics such as crockery or earthenware

Metal

• Laminated foil such as pet food pouches and coffee pouches
• Electrical items and batteries
• Kitchenware such as cutlery, pots and pans
• Kettles
• Irons
• Pipes
• Metal packaging that contained white spirits, paints, engine oils or antifreeze

Plastic

• Compostable or biodegradable plastics, including some coffee pods
• Plastic bottles that contained white spirits, paints, engine oils or antifreeze
• Bulky rigid plastics such as garden furniture, bins and plastic toys
• Polystyrene packaging, such as packing beads
• PVC packaging

Paper and card

• Fibre-based composite cartons for food and drink
• Absorbent hygiene products (e.g., nappies, period/incontinence products)
• Cotton wool or makeup pads
• Tissue or toilet paper
• Wet wipes

Can you get fined for putting bins out early?

Food waste

• Compostable or biodegradable plastics, including some coffee pods

Garden waste

• Animal bedding
• Bulky waste, including garden furniture and fencing
• Garden tools or other gardening equipment
• Plant pots
• Plastic
• Sand
• Sawdust
• Stone, gravel or bricks
• Tea bags or coffee grounds
• Branches and trees over a certain size unless cut down to meet local guidance

Why are these 37 items being banned from recycling at home?

Household recycling collections are built around packaging and core materials that can be sorted and processed efficiently.

Items outside that scope can jam machinery, contaminate loads and reduce how much ends up being recycled.

“These rules are designed to stop over-recycling, where well-meaning households put the wrong items in the recycling, and the whole load becomes harder to process,” the waste experts said.

They added: “Cleaner recycling means more can actually be recycled.”

How to get rid of banned items

The team at Wheeldon Brothers said most of the banned list can still be recycled, but only if it is taken to the right place.

“People hear banned and assume it must go to landfill, but that is not the case for most of these items,” the waste experts said.

They added: “The key is knowing what your household bins are designed to handle, and using supermarkets and recycling centres for everything else.”

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The team at Wheeldon Brothers described supermarkets as being a “gamechanger” for recycling and advised homeowners to “check the label, keep it clean and dry” and recycle it when you next go food shopping.

How to avoid being fined for recycling banned items

“Household bins are for core materials, not every item that looks recyclable,” the waste experts said.

“If you sort it properly and use the right disposal route, you can avoid fines and keep far more waste out of landfill.”

Can you recycle pizza boxes?

The Wheeldon Brothers team reminds homeowners that if the cardboard is greasy or heavily soiled, it should go in the general rubbish.

If the lid is clean, you can often tear it off and recycle that section.

“Card and paper do not cope well with food contamination, so greasy pizza boxes are better in general waste,” the waste experts added.

How to check if something can be recycled at home

Ryan Kalia, a waste and recycling expert at Kingfisher Direct, has shared a few tips for making sure your household waste can be recycled.

Ryan explained: “Check your council’s website. This is the first place you need to check, as recycling is still enforced locally.

“This means that what’s accepted and how it’s accepted in Manchester City Council may differ slightly from Kent County Council, etc.

“To avoid any problems, check to see if your council has a A-Z recycling tool, and make sure to check their individual guidance on food waste (especially from March).

“Make sure you follow preparation instructions carefully.”

Homeowners will need to follow the new rules to avoid fines (Image: Getty)

He also said that homeowners should read packaging correctly to avoid errors: “Don’t just rely on the word ‘recyclable’ when it’s on packaging Just because packaging says ‘recyclable’, doesn’t always mean that it can be recycled at home.

“Instead, it often means that it can be recycled somewhere else, such as at supermarkets or external recycling centres, or that is simply recyclable in theory.

“If the packaging or item doesn’t clearly match your council’s accepted list, it doesn’t belong in kerbside recycling at home, and shouldn’t be recycled.”

Whilst you get used to the new rules, Ryan advised: “Set up a clear sorting system inside, as well as outside.

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“This will help with staying compliant with the new and current rules, avoiding potential fines.

“Inside, make sure to separate food waste into a small food waste caddy, your recycling in a separate bin, and your general waste in another bin.

“Separating items as soon as possible is key in staying compliant with the new rules.”

Do you think the new rules will encourage more items to be recycled? Let us know in the comments.

North Yorkshire Council took control of Alpamare in Scarborough after the collapse of the site’s developer, and it was reopened in July 2024 under the operation of Flamingo Land.

​Flamingo Land originally secured a contract to run it for 12 months, with an option to extend its lease for a further year.

​Commenting on future plans for Alpamare, Gary Fielding, the corporate director for resources, said: “We are already actively exploring all options for the future of the site, including any potential interest within the wider North Bay area plans.

​“Flamingo Land continues to operate Alpamare under the current agreement and will do so until at least the end of October.

​“Our priority is to ensure the long-term operational and financial stability of the venue so it continues to contribute positively to Scarborough’s leisure and tourism offer,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

​NYC previously said that the site’s commercial performance will be reviewed, and in 2024, the council did not rule out subsidising the waterpark in the longer term.

​The attraction opened in 2016 with the help of a £9 million loan that was granted by the old Scarborough Borough Council to developer Benchmark Leisure Ltd.

​Ten years after the loan was granted behind closed doors, the developer went into administration in October 2023, leading North Yorkshire Council to take possession of the site and write off the £7.8 million that remained unpaid.

​Last year, a fact-finding review by the council’s auditor concluded that the decision to grant a loan to Benchmark Leisure Limited was “undoubtedly risky”.

​A year ago, NYC soft-launched a marketing exercise aiming to deliver “significant financial returns” by redeveloping Scarborough’s North Bay attractions.

​Sites including the former Atlantis Waterpark and Marvel’s theme park, the former Indoor Pool, the Northstead Gardens, and Alpamare water park, could be redeveloped to boost the local economy, the authority said.

​

Russia is set to have athletes competing under their own flag at the Paralympic Games for the first time since 2014.

In a statement, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said Russia’s National Paralympic Committee had been awarded six slots in the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.

The country will have one woman and one man competing in para alpine skiing, one woman and one man in para cross-country skiing, and two men in the snowboarding event.

The latest move by the IPC comes after bans first for a state-sponsored doping scheme and another linked to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Real are without three stars, including England international Jude Bellingham, who is nursing a hamstring injury. Eder Militao is out longer term, while Rodrygo has been suffering with tendonitis. Kylian Mbappe is part of the squad, however, and should lead the line here. Stay up to date with all the latest with our live blog below.

A new biography reveals that Prince William once suggested two alternative names for his firstborn son Prince George as he and Catherine debated options ahead of the future king’s 2013 birth

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Prince William once humorously suggested he had some rather unconventional and decidedly un-royal names in mind when considering what to call his first child, it has been revealed. The Prince and Princess of Wales welcomed their first son, Prince George, in 2013, but in the months preceding his birth, William and Kate were still contemplating names for the future monarch.

A new biography, William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, penned by the Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers, discloses for the first time that William and Kate “spent hours” researching names for their firstborn, with the Prince of Wales frequently proposing very out-of-the-box ideas.

Drawing on exclusive access to numerous palace insiders, the book provides previously untold context about some of the most significant moments in the Prince and Princess of Wales’s lives in recent years. One of the most monumental came when William and Kate stood on the steps of St Mary’s Hospital in London to present their firstborn to the world.

However, in the months leading up to Prince George’s birth, the couple faced a major decision: the name of their first child. According to the biography, as Catherine reached the five-month mark of her pregnancy, the royal pair began purchasing baby clothes in neutral colours, having agreed to keep the baby’s gender a surprise until the birth.

But the book claims they disagreed when it came to choosing a name. As Myers writes: “Catherine had her heart set on Alexander for a boy or Alexandra (also Queen Elizabeth’s middle name) for a girl. William had privately voiced his preference for having a girl, and was keen to incorporate a tribute to his late mother, most likely in the form of a middle name,” reports the Mirror.

The biography also claims Kate had been exchanging baby-name ideas with close friends who had recently had children themselves, and as the couple struggled to agree, they received a useful gift.

“The couple had been given a book of baby names by a close friend, which they spent hours thumbing through – they often ended up in fits of laughter after one or the other had presented a more left-field suggestion,” the biography states.

According to royal sources, William would frequently begin meetings with his press team by announcing name suggestions such as, “What do you think about Rodney for a boy, or maybe Graham?” waiting for their hesitant response before bursting into laughter.

Despite the unconventional suggestions, it has been revealed that William — who ultimately preferred a more traditional approach for his heir — narrowed the choice down to a shortlist of two names for a boy: George and Louis. The biography also explores how William shielded his children following Kate’s cancer diagnosis, how the Prince and Princess of Wales responded to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s public allegations against the Firm, and how William clashed with his father, King Charles, over his disgraced uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The revealing new biography, available to pre-order now, chronicles the Prince and Princess of Wales’s journey from their first meeting at St Andrews University to the present day, detailing how they have forged a vision for a modern monarchy and its secure continuation during a period of significant change and upheaval.

Myers said of the book: “I’ve spent almost a decade following The Prince and Princess of Wales as part of the royal pack and have always believed there’s so much more to the couple than the spectacle reveals.

“The result of this biography is a truly intimate portrait of William and Catherine; providing not just unparalleled insight into who they are as individuals, but seismic revelations about them as a couple and the world they inhabit. This biography moves beyond the headlines as it explores love, resilience, and their journey together as they navigate their public duties amid this unprecedented era.”

The former church building is more than 160 years old.

A gothic-style church built in the 1800s could be turned into a house. Plans have been submitted to East Cambridgeshire District Council to turn the former Mission Church of St Andrew in North Street, Burwell, into a house.

The church was built in 1863. It is unknown when it stopped operating as a church, but it was later used as an office.

It has been vacant since 2020 and listed as a Grade II listed building in 2024. The applicant bought the building for its “heritage value”.

The planning application said: “Their intention is to restore, maintain, and enhance its original features while adapting the interior for residential use in a sensitive and minimally invasive manner.” The proposal involves creating an open plan kitchen and dining area from the front porch.

There will then be steps down into a bedroom, utility, and study area. Above, there are two galleries which are proposed to be a bedroom and landing area.

The applicant proposed to keep the “gothic-style” details such as the windows, as well other original features. These also include “prominent landmark chimneys”, “queen post roof trusses”, and “gold-leaf biblical inscriptions on tie beams”.

The applicant added that by changing the former church into a house, it is “ensuring its long-term preservation and continued maintenance through active use”. The plans added that the proposals “protect key heritage features” and “complements the character” of the area.

Walls that surround the building will be kept in order to “preserve the character of the site”. The wall boundary along Silver Street will be repaired and a trellis will be added to it for privacy.

It was reported that both the victim, 18, and his attacker got on the bus at 2.14pm on Sunday from stand L at Leigh bus station.

The victim was sat at the back of the bus and the person reported to have assaulted him was on the seat in front.

It was alleged that the victim was jumped on and then punched and kicked in the head, resulting in him losing consciousness.

Paramedics preformed CPR on the victim who now remains in hospital in a stable condition. The attacker is believed to have got off the bus on Newton Road at 2.24pm.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: “We would like to speak to this man as we believe he might have witnessed a serious assault that took place on a Greater Manchester Bus – Bus number: 3559 – Route 610 (Leigh to Wigan Route) around 2.20pm today (Sunday 15 February).

“If you have any information please contact police on 101 or LiveChat quoting Log 1683 of 15/02/2026. Always call 999 in an emergency.”

Dr Cat Barlow, chief executive officer of RUN, said: “While we strongly support the role of well-sited renewable energy in tackling the climate crisis and safeguarding nature in the long-term, our detailed analysis evidences that Scawd Law in the Moorfoot Hills is the wrong location for a wind farm development.

As the Hodge review shows, my experience was not an isolated case – and my frustrations have been shared by operators across the sector. Now, this should not be used as an excuse to simply criticise the Arts Council or the people working within it. Public bodies operate under real pressure, and accountability for public money matters. The issue is not whether scrutiny exists, but whether the way it is applied is proportionate, transparent and fair.