A bin man has hit out at ‘selfish’ people who hide unrecyclable items in their bins simply because they do not want to store the rubbish between collections
Paige Freshwater Social Newsdesk Writer
11:59, 19 Mar 2026
Binmen can refuse to take your rubbish away (stock)(Image: Tosh Lubek via Getty Images)
A bin man has hit out at “selfish” households for putting one common item in their recycling bins simply because their general waste is overflowing. He took to social media to plead with parents to stop contaminating recycled waste with used nappies, saying there is no need to dispose of them in recycling bins.
In a TikTok video, user @theno1.binman questioned why parents continue to do this when they know nappies belong in general waste, suggesting it may be a bin capacity issue. He said: “I just don’t understand people like this. Why would you go to the effort? You have to dig down into your recycling bin to put a dirty nappy in there. Surely it makes more sense to just put it in your general waste bin?”
If it is a space issue, he suggests removing items that can be recycled and placing them in the recycling bin instead, which would free up more room in the general waste bin.
He added: “You’ve now got more bins than ever. You don’t have to be hiding stuff – it seems like a lot of effort.”
Commenting on his post, one user said: “They collect general waste every three weeks – what am I meant to do, keep them for three weeks? No thanks.”
Another user added: “Put it in a cardboard box inside the recycling bag. Never going to get caught.”
A third user said: “When the bin men go on strike, I smear dog poo on the bin when the strike is over.”
One more user added: “I do it out of principle.”
Content cannot be displayed without consentItems that cannot be recycled
Recycle Now has set out the following guidelines for common baby-related items that cannot be recycled:
Disposable nappies
Disposable nappies should be placed in your general waste bin.While it is possible to recycle disposable nappies, this service is not widely available to households at the moment. The recycling industry is working on this, and it may become available in the future.
Cotton wool
Cotton wool is not recyclable and should be placed in your waste bin.Do not flush cotton wool down the toilet, as it expands when wet and can cause blockages.
Tissues
Although tissues are made of paper, they consist of very short fibres that are not high enough quality to be recycled. They should therefore be placed in the waste bin.
Wet wipes
Baby wipes, cosmetic wipes, cleaning wipes and moist toilet tissues are not recyclable and are not flushable – even if labelled otherwise. They should always be placed in the waste bin.