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.

It can be difficult and dangerous to dispose of unwanted paint. It should not be poured down the drain or put in your black rubbish bin. You can donate unwanted paint and varnish that is still useable to your local recycling centre and put it in the distinctive pink Seagulls paint collection container. The paint will be donated to Seagulls, a local community paint re-use organisation.

Paper can be recycled in your green bin, at your nearest bring site or recycling centre. Please note that we are not able to accept shredded paper for recycling (please see shredded paper).

There are three recycling centres in Leeds where you can take your paper containers with metal ends such as hot chocolate, gravy granules, coffee and Pringles for recycling - Kirkstall, Wetherby and Yeadon.

Hot drinks paper cups are used in high street coffee shops, fast food outlets and supermarkets. These cups are lined with several layers of polyethylene (plastic). Because of this they are not suitable for recycling along with normal cardboard. Why not try a reusable cup? You can recycle your paper coffee cups in the recycling on the go bins for coffee cup in the city centre.

Peat bogs are rare habitats that are being destroyed to produce peat, so try to avoid buying or using it. If you have unwanted peat, it can be added to your compost heap or spread on your garden.

Please see Chemicals

Photographs and photographic paper cannot be recycled due to the plastic laminate on them being difficult to remove at paper pulping plants. If plastic is mixed into the process the recycled paper become unusable. Please dispose of these items in your black bin.

Please see bedding and blankets

You can take plasterboard* to your nearest recycling centre. Please put it in the container for plasterboard. Plasterboard is used as a soil conditioner and blended with organic waste in the manufacture of compost. *Restrictions apply for disposing of some types of rubbish at our household recycling centres including plasterboard. To find out more please see our guide to DIY waste disposal.