Oldham Council have announced changes to what can be put into residents' recycling bins.

Oldham's brown bins collect the plastic and glass household waste.

Previously, there was only official permission to include glass bottles and jars, food tins and drinks cans, aerosols and foil.

You were not allowed to include plastic bottles or plastic pots, tubs or trays.

However, to mark National Recycling Week, the council have announced that these items will now be included in the allowed refuse collection.

With the change having started this Monday (October 14), many people responded to a post on social media which highlighted the change stating they had believed these items were already allowed in the bin.

However, the council warned that residents will still not be allowed to include any plastic film, carrier bags, crisp packets or pet food pouches. 

They also informed residents that the any of the new and existing items must be cleaned of any residue, such as blood from meat, before being placed into the recycling bin. 

Other councils across Greater Manchester have followed suit, such as Bury Council who have also added plastic pots, plastic trays, including black plastic trays and plastic tubs. 

Advice on the Oldham Council website states that if a bin contains the wrong items, they are unable to collect it. 

They said this is because if a waste removal vehicle collects too many contaminated loads, the vehicle may have its entire load refused at the recycling facility.

When loads are rejected, the council say it not only 'wastes residents’ efforts to recycle', but results in additional charges as the load must then be disposed of as general waste.

If your bin hasn't been emptied, they advise checking to see if it has incorrect items inside and removing anything that should not be in there.

You will still need to wait for the next scheduled collection day however, as collection crews will not return to empty the bin until then.

They stated it is the residents responsibility to remove any contamination from their recycling bin, even if they did not place it in their themselves.