Can You Recycle Black Plastic Food Trays?

You can recycle black plastic food trays in some UK collections, but colour alone cannot confirm acceptance. Traditional carbon-black pigment made older trays difficult for optical sorters to detect, while newer packaging and sorting technology can handle more dark plastics.

Why recycling black plastic food trays was difficult

Many facilities use near-infrared light to identify plastic type. Carbon-black pigment absorbed that light, so a tray could pass the scanner without a useful reading and fall into the reject stream. This did not mean the polymer itself was impossible to recycle; it meant the automated system struggled to recognise it.

What has changed

Manufacturers have introduced detectable dark pigments, moved products into clear or natural-coloured trays and improved sorting equipment. Two trays that look equally black to a shopper may therefore behave differently at a facility. A blanket rule learned several years ago may no longer match the packaging or the plant serving your address.

The position in England in 2026

Simpler Recycling requires English household services to collect core plastic packaging, including pots, tubs and trays, from 31 March 2026. That national consistency is helpful, but residents must still use the council’s specified container and preparation rules. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate their own systems.

Prepare the tray properly

Remove the peelable film and absorbent pad, scrape away food and rinse lightly. Put the rigid tray loose in the collection rather than nesting it with other trays. A black foam tray or a compostable pack is not necessarily the same as an ordinary rigid plastic tray, so check the material label rather than relying only on shape.

If the label and council disagree

Packaging may have been designed for a national market while your local service information reflects the current contract. Use the council’s live guidance and ask its waste team when an accepted-material list appears out of date. Do not place a doubtful tray in recycling simply because it carries a resin number; that number identifies plastic, not guaranteed local acceptance.

Use the packaging label as supporting evidence

Look for the current UK recycling label, the material description and any instruction to check locally. A resin code only identifies the plastic family; it does not prove that the council’s contracted facility will sort that tray. If a supermarket changes from carbon-black to detectable pigment, older and newer packs may look almost identical. The council list therefore remains the final household instruction in 2026. When accepted, present the black tray loose rather than nested beneath clear trays, giving optical equipment the best possible view of each item.

Official sources

• GOV.UK – Simpler Recycling: household recycling in England
• Recycle Now – recycling guidance

Sources checked: August 2026. Local services and national requirements can change.