A to Z of reusing, recycling and waste disposal

Try to always use kitchen roll made from recycled paper. Used kitchen roll can be added to your compost bin/heap where it will rot down to produce compost for the garden.  The cardboard inner tube can be recycled by putting it in your green recycling bin. It will recycled into new cardboard products.

You can recycle your old, unwanted knives by taking them to your nearest recycling site and putting them in the scrap metal container.

If these are still in working order, please donate them to your local charity shop or reuse organisation. If they are not good enough to reuse please recycle your lamp/light fitting by taking it to your nearest recycling centre, where you can put it in the small electrical waste container.

Try to buy low energy lightbulbs, particularly for rooms where lights are left on for long periods of time. This will save money on energy and by not replacing lightbulbs so often. Low energy lightbulbs can be recycled at your nearest household waste recycling centre. Other types of (incandescent) lightbulbs cannot be recycled at present. These should be wrapped in newspaper and placed in your black household bin.

Visit the medical waste page for more information on what we will collect and how to book collections.

Unused medicines should be returned to your doctor or pharmacist. Empty medicine bottles can be recycled in the green bin or bottle banks.

You can take scrap metal to your local recycling centre. Metal will be recycled into new metal products.

If your microwave still works, please donate it to a charity shop or your local reuse organisation. You can recycle your microwave by taking it 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.

Some charities run postal collection schemes for unwanted phones. You will be able to find out more information on the internet. Most supermarkets and phone shops have collection facilities for unwanted mobile phones. You could also put them in your nearest WEEE bank (see W for a list of sites).

You can recycle your old style monitor or flat screen monitor by taking it to your nearest recycling centre, where you can put it in the television/monitor container. The metal and plastic will be recycled into new products.

Please consider using real nappies. Real nappies are re-useable and washable. They are easier to use than you might think and can work out cheaper in the long run than disposable ones. If you would like to try these, we have areal nappy incentive scheme to encourage parents to try these. You can either get a free trial pack or £30 cash back when you spend over £50 on real nappies. If you are using disposable nappies, please bag them up before you put them in your black bin.

Please see Hypodermic Needles

Leeds City Council does not collect trade waste. However, you can take your office waste to either the Kirkstall or Seacroft recycling centre and pay the appropriate fee to recycle it. For further information about our trade waste fees, visit the business waste page.

Please see Cooking Oil and Engine Oil

Please see Composting and Food Waste