A to Z of reusing, recycling and waste disposal

Please see Hypodermic Needles

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

If your electrical tools are in good working order, you can donate them to a local reuse organisation. You can also take them to the Revive Leeds re-use shop at the Kirkstall or Seacroft recycling centres, or put them in the reuse container at your nearest recycling centre. If you are replacing a broken electrical tool, the retailer supplying your new equipment should offer you a take back service. Alternatively, you can recycle your radio by taking it to your nearest bring site with a WEEE bank (see W for a list of sites) or to your nearest recycling centre, where you can put it in the small electrical waste container.

You could offer unwanted tools to friends and family or they can be sold to scrap metal merchants. You may even be able to sell them. You can take them to your nearest recycling centre and put them in the scrap metal container.

Toys and games suitable for re-use can be donated to your local charity shop.

If your dryer is in good working order, you can donate it to a local reuse organisation. You can also take your dryer to the Revive Leeds re-use shop at the Kirkstall or Seacroft recycling centres. If you are replacing a broken dryer, the retailer supplying your new equipment should offer you a take back service. Alternatively, you can recycle your dryer by taking it to your nearest recycling centre, where you can put it in the electrical container. If you are unable to do this, you can book a bulky waste collection online.

When new tyres are fitted to your car, the old tyres should be disposed of safely by the garage. A maximum of four tyres* per visit can be taken to your nearest recycling centre for recycling. Tyres are shredded and sent abroad as fuel for cement kilns and are also used in the creation of landfill schemes. *Restrictions apply for disposing of some types of rubbish at our household recycling centres including tyres. To find out more please see our guide to waste disposal.