Can you recycle sanitary products?

Pads, tampons and applicators are general waste (bagged). Flushing them causes blockages and beach pollution. Reusable options (cups, period pants, washable pads) have made this a solvable waste stream.

Tips

• Menstrual cups last years and councils increasingly subsidise them

Which bin does it go in?

General waste, always — never flushed, never recycled.

Before throwing it away, see reuse, repair and donation routes.

Background: The 10 recycling mistakes that ruin lorry-loads.

Also searched as: tampons, pads, period products.