Recycling

St Nicks has provided an eco-friendly kerbside recycling scheme for York since 2001. We currently collect recycling from over 3000 residential properties and businesses around York. Our unique, low carbon service uses fully electric vehicles and load-bearing tricycles to collect and sort recycling at the kerbside. Our service is one of a kind in the UK, our team hand sorts at the kerbside to ensure there is no contamination in our recycling loads. This means we can guarantee that all the materials we collect are fully recycled and making the recycling process as efficient as possible.

Our award-winning team work hard to provide a fair and consistent service to all of our service users.

Awards

2023 Resource Magazine HOT 100  Waste & Recycling Manager ranked 21st

2023 Lets Recycle Collection Crew of the year Sponsored by Faun Zoeller

2022 Resource HOT 100 for people having a big impact in the waste and resources sector. Our Waste & Recycling Manager Sam Taylor has achieved a position in the top 100 every year since 2017. “Always goes that extra mile, not just for recycling but for people too – a true community service!”

“She is always available to answer questions, provide encouragement or help people make informed decisions about cutting down on their waste. She does this all whilst running lots of different waste education projects, providing talks to local groups and running a zero-waste facebook group. Thank you, Sam!”

 2022 City of York Council Big Thanks

Big Thanks to St Nicks Environment Centre, from Tiphaine, for your practical help

Thanks to St Nicks for carrying out Terraycle drop-in sessions during the pandemic. You helped my mental and physical health, as I had to cycle 30 minutes to get to you and collect Terracycle waste before, either from the office and friends. I felt as this simple activity allowed me to have some control and a positive impact in the unusual life during the pandemic. A 'Big Thanks' to Sam Taylor from St Nicks for running the Zero Waste at York Facebook Group. I learnt so much about specific recycling locations, zero-waste refill shops, and other tips and tricks. I particularly enjoy your 'Wanted Wednesday' and 'Free Friday' threads, allowing me to declutter and share items with locals, meet new people and neighbours and share with them other ideas about reducing waste. I feel empowered to make a difference, every day, and to reduce my waste too. I keep on learning through this Facebook group, I am so grateful for this free information!

Big Thanks to St Nicks Recycling Team, from Alice, for your practical help

The St Nicks Recycling team worked none stop during the pandemic, for many they were the only people you were guaranteed to see and be able to talk to every single week. They kept an eye on my neighbours who were vulnerable and very anxious, and they care about the people they came into contact with. They were always happy to chat and were still smiling even when people put disgusting things out for collection - even during a worldwide health scare! Their service has always been consistent and they are always happy to answer questions and help anyone that needs it.

2019 Collection Crew of the Year Top 3 Finisher out of 14 teams nominated from the Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management

2016 Team of the Year (shortlisted) by the National Recycling Awards

2010 Community Recycling Champion at the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM)

2007 Biffa Climate Conscious Award for innovation for the zero-emission recycling scheme

How to recycle well

Everyone, no matter who collects your recycling, whether a resident or a business should make the effort to recycle well. This reduces costs and improves the efficiency of collection services. Ensure you always follow the advice of the organisation that collects your recycling on what you can recycle and how to present your recycling.

Unfortunately labelling on products is often misleading so cannot be relied on to provide an accurate picture of how you can dispose of your materials at a local level. Some materials may look the same as others but are very different, a common example are plastics and glass; window glass is very different to the glass used to make bottles and jars for instance. We are always happy to provide advice and information so please do get in touch if you have a query about a material or how to recycle it.

Little and often is better than hoarding waste, it will save you space and means collection volumes are less unpredictable.