A bin man has shared the common recycling mistake that can contaminate your entire recycling bin, and even risk you getting a penalty fine or warning for your mistake
14:26, 18 May 2026Updated 14:26, 18 May 2026
The bin man shared a common recycling mistake people make when disposing of certain items (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)
A bin man has highlighted a common recycling error that many households make, which can end up ‘contaminating’ everything else in the recycling bin, making it all unrecyclable. Across the UK, all councils are legally obliged to provide household recycling collections, helping to make the process of disposing of waste as easy as possible.
However, each council operates under its own rules and regulations regarding collection schedules, the number of bins provided, and which materials are accepted. This can make it rather confusing for householders to know where to dispose of certain items. This is where Ashley steps in. He is a refuse collector who has taken to TikTok to share his top tips and advice to help households make the right recycling choices.
Having amassed over 173,400 followers on the platform, he has established himself as ‘The No1 Bin Man’, regularly answering viewers’ questions about household recycling and how to dispose of particular items, as well as highlighting common mistakes that many households make.
In a recent video, Ashley responded to a question from a viewer, who asked how greeting cards, such as birthday cards, should be disposed of. While they are typically made from paper, they often contain other elements that can leave people wondering whether they are recyclable.
“What about birthday cards?” the viewer wondered in their question.
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“I absolutely hate birthday cards, what’s the point of them in the first place? They’re just a waste of money,” he said. However, he continued by explaining that if you receive a birthday card and are unsure how to dispose of it after reading, there are certain things to check in order to determine whether it can be recycled.
“If they’re just normal cards, they can go in your paper recycling bin, not a problem,” he said.
Yet if you receive a handmade card, or one featuring more elaborate design features, you need to consider carefully how to get rid of it.
“If it starts to have glitter or someone’s drawn you a picture or painted a picture for you, then it cannot go in your paper recycling bin, it has to go in your general waste bin, because once it’s got glitter and paint on it, it cannot be recycled,” the bin man said.
When a non-recyclable item ends up in your recycling bin, it can compromise the entire sorting operation. If the refuse collector spots the problem, they will simply reject your recycling bin.
However, if it slips through undetected, it can result in the whole load being turned away, cause damage to machinery and delays at the recycling facility, leading to higher costs for local authorities and taxpayers, according to RecycleNow.
Should a council discover that a household repeatedly breaches recycling regulations by placing prohibited items in their recycling bin, they may be issued with warning notices and fixed penalty notices.
Because of this, the bin man encouraged people to avoid purchasing cards altogether, and instead send the recipient a message on their phone. “If you’re gonna get them a card, get them a scratch card,” he suggested. “At least you can win something with it. Otherwise, it’s pointless bits of paper being wasted.”
He went on to explain that a standard birthday card containing only a handwritten message can be disposed of in your household recycling bin. However, any card featuring special embellishments, such as glitter, paint, or a musical mechanism, should instead be placed in your general waste bin.