You’ve just about got your head around your day-to-day household recycling (that’s dry recycling, food waste and garden waste), but there’s a lot more you could be doing.
Whether it’s through one of our services or other organisations in your local area and beyond, we’ve put together some guidance to help you broaden your recycling even further. If you want to go the extra mile by reducing what you waste and reusing items, we’ve got that covered too.
Recycling that might surprise you
If you think you can’t recycle something, however unusual it is, set yourself a challenge to find out whether there is a way. We’ve found a few items you can recycle and explained how to do it.
- water filters: used BRITA cartridges can be reused or recycled. Find your nearest BRITA collection point
- coffee pods: don’t throw away used coffee, tea or hot chocolate pods. You can recycle them at our Household Recycling Centres (Tidy tips) or at participating Podback drop-off points. Find out how and where to recycle coffee pods
- spectacles: take your pre-loved glasses to your local Specsavers, where they can be recycled to support people in need
- wine corks: take natural corks, but not synthetic ones, to your nearest Majestic store. They will send them to the Eden Project, where they can be used to enrich soil and protect roots
- plastic wrapping: bread bags, frozen food bags, crisp packets, pet food pouches, toilet roll wrapping and chocolate wrappers can be recycled at participating supermarkets. Find somewhere to recycle plastic bags and wrapping
Our recycling centres accept more than you might think
You can also visit our Household Recycling Centres (Tidy tips), where we accept lots of items you might not be aware of, including:
- hard plastics, such as bins, buckets and pipes
- light bulbs, including fluorescent tubes
- household furniture
- printer cartridges
- carpets and underlay
- CDs and DVDs
- paint and paint tins
We also have a reuse shop at Thorn Turn Household Recycling Centre. It accepts and sells bikes, kitchenware, toys and many other reusable items.
Clothing, shoes and textiles
With cheap clothing readily available on the high street and online, it’s easy to be tempted into constantly updating your wardrobe. However, fast fashion adds to the waste problem, with around 350,000 tonnes of wearable clothing sent to landfill. That’s equivalent to £140 million in value every year.
Keeping clothing, shoes and textiles, such as sheets, blankets and towels, in use and out of the bin couldn’t be easier.
- in Central Bedfordshire, we collect clean, dry and reusable items. Put them in a carrier bag and place it next to your bin on collection day
- drop off unwanted items at clothing and textile recycling points or donate them to a local charity shop
- post your donations to the British Heart Foundation for free
Going the extra mile: reusing and mending
If your wardrobe needs a makeover, consider buying second-hand clothes. You could also replace buttons, darn old socks or mend fallen hems instead of buying something new.
Furniture, appliances and household goods
There are many ways to recycle and reuse furniture, appliances and household goods. Whichever route you choose, you’re helping to keep items out of landfill for longer and reducing the amount of waste you create.
- donate beds, wardrobes, fridges, washing machines, televisions and smaller electrical items that are in reasonable condition and still working to organisations such as Emmaus, Preen and Freegle
- we collect and recycle small electrical items and household batteries
- sell unwanted items through an online marketplace or at a car boot sale. Something you no longer want may be valuable to someone else
Going the extra mile: upcycling
With a little imagination and a coat of paint, you can give an old cabinet, table or chair a new lease of life. You can also reuse glass jars and bottles, plastic takeaway containers and cardboard boxes for another purpose. YouTube has lots of videos about upcycling.