E to M of Recycling

E

Electrical items

Reuse is a great method to reduce your rubbish. If your item is still working safely, you could sell it or donate it a local charity.

Contact your local furniture recycling scheme and see if they can reuse it. Don't dump it, donate It!

Some retailers will take back old electrical items when they deliver a new one - ask if they provide this service when you are ordering.

All of Shropshire's household recycling centres (HRCs) have facilities for you to dispose of domestic electrical goods free of charge.

Envelopes

Reuse them by placing stickers over the previous addresses.

Many charities provide reuse labels, so you can support a good cause as well as reducing your rubbish.

F

Fluorescent tubes

These contain mercury vapour and must be disposed of properly- not in general household waste. Special containers are provided for fluorescent tubes at Shropshire's household recycling centres. Tubes from businesses cannot be accepted – use a contractor for disposal.

Flytipping

Flytipping is the illegal dumping of rubbish and it is a national problem. It costs Shropshire tax payers thousands of pounds each year.

You can be fined up to £20,000 if you fly tip waste. If you pay someone else to take your waste away make sure that they dispose of it properly at a licensed waste site.

If you witness flytipping please report the incident to the Environment Agency or your district/borough council (see link for contact details).

Furniture

Most items of furniture can be reused. What may be unwanted by you may be useful to someone else.

Shropshire has an excellent network of local furniture recycling schemes called SHOFUR that can make use of donated furniture (see link for more information).

Please note that if you have an unwanted sofa or chair they must have the kitemark to prove they meet British safety standards.

Please make sure all furniture is clean and in good repair before you donate it.

Shropshire Waste Partnership provides a collection service for bulky items of furniture. Follow the 'bulky household waste' link in the menu bar for more information.

G

Garden waste

The best way of dealing with garden waste is to compost it at home – you can help your garden grow and reduce the amount of rubbish in your bin. See the home composting page for more information.

The Shropshire district and borough councils also provide kerbside collection services for compostable garden waste. The waste is processed at local farms to produce a soil improver, which is used on the farms themselves. Contact your council for more information.

Compostable garden waste can also be taken to Shropshire's household recycling centres (HRCs) where skips or bays are provided for the waste. In 2005 we composted over 5750 tonnes of garden waste from the HRCs. Please remember to empty sacks into the skips or bays.

What can be accepted for composting at the HRCs?

Grass cuttings, leaves, prunings, small branches

What can’t be accepted?

Root balls, kitchen waste, plant pots, tree trunks and large branches. Definitely no plastic bags, soil or rubble! It’s particularly important that kitchen waste, paper etc is not put in garden waste skips at the household recycling centres as this can contaminate the whole load.

Gas cylinders

Gas cylinders are the property of the supplier and should be returned to them - a deposit has usually been paid. If you cannot return them, individual cylinders can be taken to household recycling centres.

Glass bottles and jars

These can be recycled into new glass containers over and over again – saving energy as well as raw materials.

Many areas of Shropshire now have kerbside recycling collections for glass bottles and jars.

If you do not have this service, use a local bottle bank.

Wash out bottles and jars, remove caps and corks.

Separate your glass according to colour. Mixing the glass can prevent it being recycled

What can't be recycled?

Do not put light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, other glass ware and dishes, window glass etc in bottle banks or kerbside collections. These are made from different types of glass – putting these in could contaminate a whole load.

What happens to the glass? It is sent to South Yorkshire to be made into new bottles and jars.

H

Hazardous wastes

Many types of waste are defined as potentially hazardous and should not be disposed of in general household refuse. The regulations on the disposal of hazardous waste are strict

Ink jet, laser and toner cartridges

Many stationery organisations have a 'return policy', meaning you can take your used cartridges back to where you purchased them from. Often, cartridges can be refilled.

Contact your local school or favourite charity and ask them whether they collect cartridges for recycling.

J

Junk mail

Junk mail is a major source of rubbish that you as a householder are able to control. More and more companies are sending mail to your household without your consent. You are able to have your name removed from, or added to, most mailing lists in the country.

For more information, follow the link to the junk mail page.

K

Kerbside recycling collection

Follow the link from the menu bar for more information.

M

Medicines and tablets

Return unwanted or out of date medicines to a pharmacist for proper disposal

Metals (scrap)

Metals can be recycled indefinitely without losing their property.

All household recycling centres throughout Shropshire have recycling facilities for metal.

If you are unsure about where to put it, please ask one of the site staff – we separate fridges and freezers from other metal items, for example.

What happens to the metal? It is sent to scrap merchants to be separated into different types, and then to reprocessors.

Mobile phones

Many charities, including South Shropshire Furniture Scheme now collect old mobile phones for recycling.

If you still have all the spare pieces like handsets, chargers and batteries contact your favourite charity and ask them if they will accept it.

Please ensure that the phone is not still under contract.

There is also a bank for reuse/recycling of mobile phones at Battlefield Household Recycling Centre, Shrewsbury