A to Z of reusing, recycling and waste disposal

You can take your fluorescent tubes to your nearest recycling centre. Please put them in the appropriate collection container. These will be recycled and the mercury that they contain will be recovered.

Please see Aluminium Foil

Try to reduce the amount of food waste that you produce by planning meals, making your portions smaller (if you tend to throw away a lot of cooked food) and freezing spare portions. You can compost your vegetable peelings and cooked food in your compost bin (but not meat and fish). Food waste can't be put in your brown bin as it may have been subject to pesticides which could contaminate the rest of the waste. For tips on how to reduce the amount of food waste you produce, recipe ideas, shopping lists and menus please see the Love Food Hate Waste website. Residents in the Rothwell area can put all their food waste in their food waste bin for weekly collection.

Most charity shops will accept them. Alternatively why not keep them to pass on to friends and relatives for their holidays.

If your fridge or freezer is in working order, please consider donating it to a local re-use organisation. If it does not work, please take it to your local recycling centre and leave it in the designated storage area. Ask the site staff if you don't know where this is. If you are unable to take your fridge or freezer to your local recycling centre, you can book a bulky waste collection online. Fridges and freezers will be sent to a recycling plant where harmful CFC gases will be removed for incineration. The plastics and metals will be recycled into new products.

If your unwanted furniture is good enough to be used by others, donate it to a local re-use organisation. Mattresses, armchairs and sofas should all have a fire label, and be free of stains. You can also take it to the Revive Leeds re-use shop at the Kirkstall or Seacroft recycling centre,. Alternatively, put your furniture in the reuse container at your nearest recycling centre. If your furniture is not good enough to re-use, please take it to your nearest recycling centre. Wooden, MDF and chipboard furniture can be recycled in the timber skip, and metal furniture in the scrap metal skip. Mattresses and other soft furniture should be put in the non-recyclable waste skip. If you are unable to take your furniture to your local recycling centre, you can book a bulky collection online.

If your unwanted table is good enough to be used by others, donate it to a local re-use organisation. You can also take it to the Revive Leeds re-use shop at the Kirkstall or Seacroft recycling centre. Alternatively, put your furniture in the reuse container at your nearest recycling site. If your table is not good enough to re-use, please take it to your nearest recycling site. Wooden, MDF and chipboard tables can be recycled in the timber skip. Other furniture should be put in the non-recyclable waste skip. If you are unable to take your table to your local recycling centre, you can book a bulky collection online.

You can recycle your unwanted telephone directories by putting them in your green recycling bin.

If you have a flat screen or portable television that is in good working order, you can donate it to a local reuse organisation. You can also take it to the Revive Leeds re-use shop at the Kirkstall or Seacroft recycling centre. If you are replacing a broken TV, the retailer supplying your new appliance should offer you a take back service. Alternatively, you can recycle your TV by taking it to your nearest recycling centre, where you can put it in the TV container.

Please see Cartons.

Please donate re-useable textile items such as clothing, bedding, curtains and towels to your local charity shop. If items are ripped or torn and not good enough to be used by someone else, they can still be recycled by taking them to your nearest bring site with a textile bank or recycling centre. These are reused and sold in charity shops or shredded and reprocessed into industrial strength blankets for protecting equipment during transport.

If you have any surplus tiles, these can be broken up and used in garden projects. You can dispose of tiles* by taking them to your nearest recycling centre and putting them in the Bricks and Rubble container. These will be used for cover and to create roads on landfill sites. *Restrictions apply for disposing of some types of rubbish at our household recycling centres including tiles. To find out more please see our guide to DIY waste disposal.

Try to re-use surplus timber wherever possible. Please remember that offcuts of clean timber can be used in wood burning stoves. You can take untreated and treated timber to your nearest recycling centre and put it in the timber container. Low grade wood is shredded and composted. Higher grade wood is sorted and processed for chipboard manufacture.

If your toaster still works, please donate it to a charity shop or your local reuse organisation. You can recycle your toaster by taking it to your nearest WEEE bank (see W for a list of WEEE banks) or to your nearest recycling centre, where you can put it in the small waste electrical container. The metal and plastic will be recycled into new products. If you are replacing a broken appliance, the retailer supplying your new toaster should offer you a take back service.

Please see Inkjet Cartridges