Can you recycle ceramic & terracotta pots?
🚫 Not recyclable
Reuse, offer locally, or rubble container at the recycling centre — not glass or kerbside recycling.
Ceramic and terracotta can't be recycled with glass (different melting point). Intact pots are snapped up on freecycle; broken ones make drainage crocks or go in the rubble/hardcore container at recycling centres.
Tips
- Smash broken pots for crocks — gardeners always need them
Which bin does it go in?
Reuse, offer locally, or rubble container at the recycling centre — not glass or kerbside recycling.
Before throwing it away, see reuse, repair and donation routes.
Background: Home composting: turn half your bin into free soil.
Also searched as: terracotta, ceramic pots, flower pots.
✓ Checked against current UK guidance: 14 Jul 2026. Spot an error or an out-of-date rule?