Why Can't We Recycle Hard Plastics at the Kerbside in Hampshire? (And What You Can Do Instead)

If you've ever stood at your kitchen bin holding a yoghurt pot, wondering why it can't go in with your recycling, you're not alone. It's one of the most common frustrations we hear about in Hampshire — and it's completely understandable, especially as we all know someone who lives somewhere that they can recycle more. But there's a good reason behind it, and once you understand what's really happening, it becomes much easier to see where your recycling effort is best spent.

The plastic problem: it's not about willingness, it's about facilities

Overton (and Hampshire)'s kerbside recycling currently accepts plastic bottles only — no pots, tubs, trays, or film. That's not because the council doesn't want your yoghurt pots and margarine tubs; it's because most plastic bottles are made from just two types of plastic that local sorting facilities can separate using infra-red technology, while pots, tubs, trays and films are made from different polymers entirely. And here's the crucial bit: even if the council collected them, there's currently no guarantee they could actually be recycled or processed anywhere in the UK. Hampshire County CouncilHampshire County Council

That's an important distinction. Collecting something isn't the same as recycling it. If a council collects material that has nowhere to go, one of two things happens: it sits in limbo, or it gets shipped abroad.

Why "just send it abroad" isn't the answer it sounds like

It sounds crazy, but the idea that "it's better to burn it here than recycle it and then ship it away" turns out to be based in truth. UK plastic waste exports have surged by 84% in the first half of 2025 compared with the previous year, largely because it's cheaper for councils and companies to export material than to process it domestically, and the UK's own recycling plants are closing as a result — 21 in the last two years alone. GeographicalGeographical

Once that plastic leaves the country, accountability gets murky fast. Investigations have found the UK sends over 60% of its plastic packaging waste abroad, and reporting has uncovered British plastic waste being burned in the open air in receiving countries, with pollutants turning up in local food chains. On top of the human and environmental cost at the other end, there's the carbon cost of the shipping itself — fuel burned to transport waste thousands of miles, often for an outcome no better (and sometimes worse) than processing it here. aolThe Scarab Trust

So when Overton's black bin waste goes to incineration instead, it's not a failure — it's actually the more responsible option available right now. Black bag rubbish is safely incinerated at one of three Energy Recovery Facilities in Hampshire, generating enough electricity to power 50,000 homes a year, and as a result Hampshire sends less than 10% of household waste to landfill. It's not the ideal end point for a yoghurt pot, but it's a known, local, accountable one — which is more than can be said for a bale of mixed plastic on a container ship. Hampshire County Council

The good news: this is changing

Here's something worth celebrating. Hampshire has approved plans for a £50 million facility in Eastleigh that will, for the first time, let residents recycle a much wider range of plastics, including pots, tubs, trays, cartons, and soft plastic film. Alongside that, weekly kerbside food waste collections have been rolled out across every Hampshire district in 2026, sending food waste for anaerobic digestion instead of incineration — generating clean energy and nutrient-rich soil improver for farmers rather than just being burned. Genuine infrastructure is being built, not just promises — it just isn't quite ready yet. Hampshire County CouncilEast Hampshire District Council

Limited hard plastic recycling is now available at a few locations across Basingstoke and Deane, including one collection point in Overton at the Overton Hill Carpark. Plastic pots, food tubs, food trays and cartons including Tetra Pak can be brought here, but must be clean and empty. Please don’t make a special trip in your car to drop off your recycling, but drop it off on your way our of the village, to ensure you aren’t adding transport emissions to the recycling circle.

So what can you actually do now?

While we wait for that infrastructure, there's a lot of good you can still do:

• Use the food waste collection. Around a third of what goes in the average rubbish bin is food that could be recycled instead — it's one of the easiest wins going.

• Take advantage of what already has a home — batteries, textiles, and certain packaging can be recycled at supermarket collection points or Household Waste Recycling Centres, even without a kerbside collection. Check out our recycling guide for local options.

• Combine trips, don't create them. The golden rule: only drop things off when you're already going that way. A special car trip to recycle a bag of batteries can easily use more carbon than the recycling saves. Keep a box by the door and empty it next time you're passing a drop-off point anyway.

• Rinse and keep loose the recycling that the council does collect — contamination is one of the biggest reasons good recycling ends up rejected and burned instead.

It's easy to feel like recycling in Overton is broken because of what's missing. But the fuller picture is more encouraging: the system is honest about its limits, it's actively expanding, and there's real, meaningful action every household can take today while the bigger changes catch up. Small, well-aimed efforts — the food caddy, the battery box by the door, the occasional detour to the recycling point you were passing anyway — add up to more than we often give them credit for.