* Edit* Please click here to see my up to date list of recycling schemes - this will be updated periodically.

Following my post “Reduce, reuse, recycle” I wanted to highlight some reuse and recycling schemes which people may not be aware of.

Before throwing something away check the sites below, it might not have to end up in landfill!

Recycle Now

Extremely useful and very easy to browse list of how to dispose of a variety of different items, including links to relevant charities.

A network of 200 organisations across the UK giving your household goods a new home with low income families. They accept furniture, appliances, flooring/carpets, bicycles, clothes and textiles, books, and even paint.

Recycling for Good Causes

Send your unwanted items and they will recycle them to raise money for your chosen charity or cause. They accept jewellery (even plastic or broken) Currency (UK, foreign, and out of circulation) gadgets, and used stamps.

Terracycle

Reducing landfill with links to waste management programmes for non-recyclable items (baby food pouches, bread bags, cigarette butts, toothbrushes etc) including locations of local collection points. You can also sign up to run a local collection programme.

Specific items:

Batteries: https://www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/batteries-1

Work Tools: https://workaid.org/how-to-help/donate-tools/

Carpets: https://carpetrecyclinguk.com/domestic/how-to-dispose-of-your-old-carpet/

Bicycles: https://thebikeproject.co.uk/ and https://www.re-cycle.org/

Printer Cartridges: https://www.therecyclingfactory.com/

Garden Tools: https://conservationfoundation.co.uk/projects/tools/

Underwear: https://www.smallsforall.org/ and https://www.againstbreastcancer.org.uk/recycling/bra-recycling/

Glasses: https://www.visionaidoverseas.org/recycling

Beds: https://www.collectyouroldbed.com/ (Includes a charge)

Musical instruments: http://www.sistemaengland.org.uk/donate-a-musical-instrument/

Corks: https://recorkeduk.org/

Hearing aids: https://www.sound-seekers.org.uk/

Inhalers: https://pharmacyfinder.completethecycle.eu/index.html

Re-using

Library of Things allows people to borrow items they only need on occasion and also runs workshops to help people learn how to fix household items.

By learning a few basic techniques, you can fix clothes rather than throwing them away. I would recommend searching youtube for the specific item you want to fix, as watching a video is often much easier to follow than written instructions. Getting clothing fixed professionally is also much cheaper than you might imagine.
If you are feeling ambitious you might fancy trying to fix your household items, Ifixit has guides to many different items from diagnosing the problem to fixing it.

As well as swapping items with friends and family, there are some great websites for swapping. Swapz is the original site in the UK.

Donating

You can search here for your local charity shops to donate your items.

Consider contacting local schools or community centres if you have anything which could be useful to be used as supplies for arts and crafts etc.

I would also really recommend Freecycle which is a nonprofit community to give away your unwanted items (sort of like ebay but everything is free). As always when dealing with strangers on the internet: caution is advised, but its a friendly community and I've only ever had positive experiences.

These are just a few examples, but there are many more across the country (and globe) so its always worth googling the specific item you have plus your location to see if there is a local scheme in your area!

Do you have any experiences using the schemes mentioned above, or know of any other great organisations I’ve not mentioned? Comment below!