A to Z of reusing, recycling and waste disposal

Please see Chemicals

Garden Waste includes grass cuttings, clippings, hedge prunings and small branches. The most environmentally friendly way of dealing with your garden waste is to compost the material and return it to the land on the site it was produced. Please see Compost, Composts Bins and Compostable Bags for more information. The best way of managing waste from large hedges, trees and shrubs is to invest in a wood chipper, which allows the production of a mulch material. This can be added to your compost heaps/bins or used directly on your garden as a weed suppressant. Mulch is also very effective at retaining moisture in the soil. By composting and creating mulch, householders even with very large gardens should be able manage their garden waste. We provide fortnightly garden waste collections throughout the growing season to certain areas of the city. Please do not put larger twigs and branches in your brown garden waste bin. You can also take garden waste to your nearest recycling centre. If you are unable to do this, you can request a bulky waste collection online for up to 4 bags of double bagged garden waste or up to 4 bundles of wood and branches (which should not be more than 2m long). Any nails/screws need to be removed. Please note that the service will not collect garden waste if you have a brown garden waste bin.

Gas bottles and cylinders can be extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands, so should not be left around after use. Please do not put unwanted gas cylinders or bottles in your black bin. We do not accept gas cylinders at any of our recycling centres. Most gas bottles and cylinders remain the property of the supplier. The supplier’s name will be printed on the item – the most common ones are Calor, BOC and Flogas. Calor gas bottles can be returned to any Calor stockist. If you have the original receipt, you can claim your deposit back. If you are unable to return them yourself, you can arrange a collection free of charge by calling 0113 307 9050 BOC will collect their cylinders free of charge. Please call 0330 162 1291 to arrange collection. Flogas will collect their cylinders free of charge. Please call 0800 574 574 and hold to arrange collection If you have a gas bottle or cylinder that is unbranded or you are unsure of its contents, you can email a picture of it toemail@synrec.co.uk for identification and advice on disposal or telephone National LPG and Industrial Gas Cylinder recovery on 0800 083 9652.

You can re-use sheets of glass by using them to make row covers (cloches) for gardening. Please do not put sheets of glass into bottle banks. You can dispose of sheet glass by taking it to your nearest recycling centre where you should put it in the non-recyclable waste container. If you are unable to do this you can request a bulky waste collection online. Please wrap the glass sheets to protect our collection crew. This will then be disposed of to landfill.

Washed and clean glass jars can be used again for storing homemade jam, pickles, herbs and other foodstuffs. Wine and beer bottles can be re-used in home brewing. Empty glass bottles and jars of any colour can be placed in your green recycling bin, or taken to a glass bank or recycling centre. Give them a quick rinse first, leave caps and lids on and they'll get recycled too. Glass recycled in green bins and bottle banks is 100% re-melted in Yorkshire and can be back on the shelf as a new bottle or jar within 30 days. Glass items such as light bulbs, drinking glasses and Pyrex containers should not be put into green bins or bottle banks. If these items are good enough to re-use, please take them to your local charity shop. If they are not, wrap them in paper and throw them away in your black rubbish bin.

Many opticians collect unwanted spectacles for re-use in the developing world. Please ask your local optician about this.

Please see Garden Waste.

Please see Cards.

Sawdust produced from untreated timber can be re-used as animal bedding. Small quantities can also be added to your compost bin/heap. It can be recycled in your brown garden waste bin, or taken to your nearest recycling centre and put in the garden waste container. Sawdust produced from MDF, chipboard or other treated timber should be bagged up and put in your black rubbish bin. Sawdust containing animal waste should be put in your black rubbish bin.

You can donate a wide range of items such as cards, papers and textiles to centres for use in community craft activities and projects. Scrap Creative Reuse Ltd is a social enterprise group which collects unwanted objects, rejects and damaged stock from businesses to distribute to community groups and schools. You can contact them on 0113 244 1576 or visit their website on the link below. Replay are a project by Leeds Play Network involving the collection of unwanted materials from businesses for use in children's craft activities. You can contact them on 0113 201 6790 or visit the Leeds Play Network website.

Please see Hypodermic Needles

If your shoes are good enough for someone else to use, please donate them to your nearest charity shop. If your shoes are not re-useable, please tie pairs together and bag them up before taking them to your nearest bring site with a textile bank or recycling centre. They will be repaired for re-use in developing countries.

We do not collect shredded paper in the green recycling bins. This is because we are unable to process it due to the small fibers which can interfere with the machinery creating costly maintenance issues. If you shred documents to protect against identity theft you can minimise the amount of shredded paper that you produce by only shredding the parts of documents that contain your personal details e.g. name, address etc.  We recommend that you place shredded paper into your home composter as it rots down quickly to create good garden compost. You can also use it as pet bedding. If you aren’t able to compost or reuse it then please place it in your black rubbish bin. It can't go in the green recycling or brown garden waste bin.

If your sideboard is in good condition, 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 your sideboard is not good enough to re-use, please take it to your nearest recycling site. Wooden, MDF and chipboard furniture 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 furniture to your local recycling centre, you can book a bulky collection online.

If your unwanted sofa is good enough to be used by others and has a fire label, 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 sofa in the reuse container at your nearest recycling centre. If your sofa 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.