RECYCLING A–Z

Aluminium Cans / Foil / Milk Botle Tops

Worth £1,350 per tonne if reclaimed! Wash and squash these, and put in green box for fortnightly doorstep collections - also nightlights, pie trays, deodorant, some toothpaste tubes, and fizzy drinks cans. There are skips at supermarkets too. Buy new recycled foil: W: www.ecotopia.co.uk

Batteries These throw-aways are manufactured from nasty chemicals, which used to end up in landfill. Nowadays, domestic dry cell batteries (eg. those used in torches), watch batteries can be put out bagged up, and put in your green box. Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible. For batteries and rechargers, and a question and answer session. T: 0800 666 4668 W: www.batterylogic.co.uk Better still, buy wind-up or solar-powered radios and torches, now more widely available.

Car batteries need to be taken to Battlefield for professional disposal. Watch batteries can be returned for recycling to Timpsons (under the market).

Bicycles can often be mended, reused, and customised. Local bike shops can repair. Broken decrepit bike metal can be recycled at Battlefield HCR (See p57).

Books. Why aren’t all books printed on recycled paper, like newspapers? Greenpeace: W: www.greenpeace.org.uk has started a campaign to change this, authors request it, and Penguin and Harper Collins books have introduced a Ancient Forest Friendly policy. Donate to charity shops, libraries, or book banks: W: www.bookcrossing.com - website to follow ideas, journeys and histories of books left in a public place to be picked up and read by others – free, who then do likewise W: www.readitswapit.co.uk Read, recycle and swap and talk about books online. You can recycle book paper in your green box, but put its cardboard cover and spine with cardboard waste collection.

Building materials . Don’t tip these, they may be useful to builders, or reclamation yards. Check out Freecycle (p47) Battlefield See Yellow Pages, and Building section page 8.

Bulky Household Waste. Ring the Council for removal, small charge, but it won’t be recycled! Instead, it’ll go to landfill, so check it can’t be used by someone, see Freecycle, below.

Cans. Aluminium cans and ferrous cans (human and pet foods) can both go in your doorstep green box. Wash and squash, please. Also can banks around town and supermarkets.

Cardboard. Leave used cardboard at doorstep to be picked up, usually fortnightly, for recycling (by composting).

Greetings cards. If you send cards, make sure the card comes from sustainable forestry, or is made of recycled paper. You can send Ecards by using FoE’s efficient and free service: W: www.foe.co.uk/cards/index.html. After Xmas, WH Smith and Tesco and TK Maxx take back greetings cards for recycling. Headway Shropshire, Holsworth Park, Oxon Business Park, Shrewsbury SY3 5HJ T: 01743 365271. Day service clients can recycle old greetings cards into new. Use Foe’s sticky labels (at our stalls or T: 01743 260971) to re-use cards and envelopes.

Cars. Abandoned vehicles are an eyesore and a safety issue. Report them to the Council T: 01743 281000. New EU ruling means cars can now be scrapped free. Salop Car Breakers. Unit 6/7 Monkmoor Industrial Estate, Shrewsbury T: 01743 242108

Car Oil – to Battlefields HRC (see page 57)

CDs Give to charity shops, or Scrappies, or recycle at Battlefield HRC (see page 57).

Clothes and shoes. All parts of textiles and shoes can be recycled and reused – even into rags or underfelt, so never just bin them. Give to Jumble sales or charity shops, for reuse and resale, and thus fundraising, or, put them out in your green box for fortnightly doorstep collection, or place them in clothing skips at supermarket recycling centres.

Coins. Many charities collect old currency, British and foreign. Also banks. Leave foreign money at port or airport of other countries for their local charities.

Compost. Make your own, to enrich the quality of your soil. (See Gardening section p30.) Worm composters make very rich compost and can sit under the sink. If you buy compost from nurseries or garden centres, make sure it contains no peat. (see Gardening section for cheap compost bins) For composing help, text or phone your number to Shropshire master composters T: 07780 740172 or E: composthelp@yahoo.co.uk

Computers. Contain hazardous waste materials, and need to be disposed of safely. They should be mended and re-used, or dismantled for recycling. UK IT Recycling, Unit 2, Duncote Mill, Walcot, (near Atcham), Shrewsbury TF6 5ER T: 01952 740 200 W: www.enviro-pc.com Collect old computers from colleges, universities, businesses, and homes for processing, sorting for re-use, and stripped into component parts. They also offer lowcost or free to low-income rural families or people in need.

Computers for Charity T: 01288 361 199 W: www.computersforcharity.org.uk Take old computers to Home Essentials (Shrewsbury Furniture Scheme) see Furniture p48. Computer cartridges . Refill Computer printer cartridges. Toners are the large, commercial ones, filled with dust colour, inkjets are wet and used in smaller, domestic pcs can be refilled while you wait, Cartridge World 15 Conway Drive, Monkmoor, SY2 5UA T: 01743 365252 Ink World 182 Abbey Foregate, SY2 6AH T: 01743 246 869 Order online with free delivery at W: www.ink-world.co.uk/store Recycle printer cartridges – only 10% are presently recycled. Charity shops, Partners, the Guildhall reception area. Action Aid T: 0845 3100 200 W: www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk Collect ink and toner cartridges and give freepost bags (and free collection boxes for offices). Cartridge Express T: 0113 2428935 W: www.lampuki.com Recycling remanufacture old printer cartridges, helps charities too.

Coat Hangers can be accepted by The Iron Shop, 105 Mount Pleasant Rd., Shrewsbury SY1 3EL T: 01743 461 274 for reuse. Cosmetics. These sometimes contain risky chemicals and shouldn’t just be dumped. Battlefield HRC will take them. Choose containers that may be recyclable. The Body Shop takes back their own plastic bottles, tubs, tubes, etc. Duvets and washable pillows (in good condition) are accepted by Furniture Schemes. (see p48). Otherwise, try Dogs Homes. W: www.ecyclebin.com A new active national website for giving/receiving something you don’t/ do want, saving stuff going into landfill. W: www.efreeko.co.uk is a free version of ebay, giving things away instead of selling them.

Egg Boxes. Return to shops and markets, or put cardboard ones in the compost bin/heap.

Electric Appliances. Get these repaired rather than discard, sometimes this creates valuable employment too. New EU Guidelines for electrical goods recycling mean there is a designated bay at Battlefield Household Recycling Centre (p57).

Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling T: 020 7729 4766 W: www.icer.org.uk Info on manufacturers who recycle. W: www.ecycling.com Recycle components or metals contained in used or discarded electronic equipment. Ring the Borough Council to take away a defunct fridge or cooker. T: 01743 281154 (for a small fee) Donate reasonable items to Furniture Schemes p48 Stokes of Shrewsbury 60 Mardol, SY1 1PP T: 01743 355752 Sell reconditioned appliances at ½ the new price Powerpoint Stores Ltd. Castle Gate, Shrewsbury T: 01743 249402 Repair and sell reconditioned cookers, fridges and washers, etc.

Envelopes. Re-use by sticking labels over previous addresses. (Shrewsbury Foe sell these). Remember to remove and discard any plastic window from envelopes before recycling with usual paper doorstep collection, (which can’t take brown envelopes – put these with cardboard collection).

Food. Waste food creates methane in landfill, so eat it all up! If cooked, should be composted in a worm bin, and not in an open compost heap (would encourage rats).

Film Cases. Take back to Boots photographic dept. for recycling.

Fluorescent lights (and low energy light bulbs) These are hazardous waste, and must be taken to Battlefield HRC for safe recycling. IKEA stores will accept them back, too. Bulk lights – Recyclite T: 0800 358 5440 T: 01953 451111 Will supply storage boxes and organize collections for recycling.

Freecycle in Shrewsbury. Grassroots, and growing, free, nonprofit local recycling opportunity – you offer something you don’t need on the web, for free, or look to acquire something yourself. and it keeps unwanted stuff out of landfill. To join, see W: www.freecycle.org

Fridges (see electric appliances).

Furniture. Can be re-used, mended, customised. If you donate to a furniture scheme, this may produce useful training work in mending, and the furniture is then sold on cheaply to households in need. Furniture Schemes: Home Essentials 294 Monkmoor Rd., Shrewsbury T: 01743 246 668 Open 9am-3pm Mon-Thu, and 9am – 1pm Fridays. Phone to donate, have stuff collected, or to receive if on a low income or in need. Furniture, electrical appliances and household goods. S.Shropshire Furniture Scheme’s office and craft and computer recycling workshops and environmental information point (HECTOR) are now at: The Renaissance Centre, Tower St., Ludlow T: 01584 877 751 E: info@furniturescheme.co.uk W: www.furniturescheme.co.uk Furniture Charities and shops Sue Ryder, 10 Roushill Bank, Shrewsbury T : 01743 356046 Ancient & Modern 121 Belle Vue Road, Shrewsbury T : 01743 351324 YMCA, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury T: 01743 242 764

Glass. Put de-lidded bottles and jars in carrier bag in fortnightly green box. Blue glass should be included with green if you use bottle banks. Try not to mix clear glass with coloured. You can’t recycle pyrex, window or light bulb glass. Town Centre recycling: New mixed glass bring banks at Swan Hill – back of Music Hall, and on Castle Street, by Owen’s passage.

Green/Garden Waste Composting at home is the best solution for waste, and you can buy subsidised compost bins T: 0845 0732001 (quote SHRO3RDDI). See Gardening section page 30.

Hazardous Waste Take to Battlefield Household Household Recycling Centre .

Incineration – this burns waste to create energy, but it’s a controversial process, and still creates ash, and past incinerators have not been healthy to live near. It also encourages waste of resources, and diminishes recycling potential. If we don’t recycle copious amounts, the local threat of an incinerator gets worse.

Ink-jet and laser cartridges (see computer cartridges).

Junk Mail. Libraries give out advice of what to do to avoid receiving mounds of junk mail. Or contact the Mail Preference Service, Freepost 22, London WIE 7EZ. T: 0845 703 4599 to stop it, or register at W: www.psonline.org.uk.

Light Bulbs. Another good reason not to buy the old fashioned , energy-guzzling incandescent bulbs, they can’t be recycled. (see also fluorescent, page 47).

Magazines. Give to library, doctors’, dentists’ or vets’ waiting rooms, or recycle with newspapers.

Medicines. unwanted or unused - creams, liquids, tablets or inhalers should all be returned to your chemists for safe disposal.

Metals . Battlefield Household Recycling Centre has a scrap metal skip. WJ Furber, Upper Battlefield, Shrewsbury T: 0783 417 5195 buy and sell any scrap metals (not fridges or al cans). Open 8-5, Mon-Fri.

Mobile phones contain many noxious chemicals, take energy to make, and waste energy if chargers aren’t unplugged. Recycling is thus essential. W: www.fonebak.com Return phone where it was purchased. Better still, charities like Oxfam and Cancer Research benefit by receiving old phones for resale etc.

Nappies. Don’t use paper nappies, as they don’t decompose, and are polluting all through their lifecycle. Reusable terry towel nappies can prevent this waste, and you could save about £800 over the lifetime of just one baby! See Baby section p6.

Oil. Disposing of any kind of oils is illegal. Waste oil can be disposed of at Battlefield HRC.

Paint. Scrappies in Church Stretton T: 01694 722511 Will take paint, emulsion or gloss, as long as there is more than half a tin. Phone before travel. Or Battlefield HRC (p 57) for safe disposal. Community RePaint (charity) W: www.communityrepaint.org.uk Left over domestic paint can be taken to a collection site at Wrexham, then given to local charities and individuals in social need - obviously don’t make a separate journey, but if you are going there anyway, take your unused paint.

Paper. Unwrap presents carefully, and reuse the wrapping paper. Put out newspapers, magazines, catalogues, etc. with fortnightly green box. Don’t forget to tear up or shred private bills and financial documents. Shredded paper can’t be recycled – but can be composted, or used as animal bedding. For Paper banks, see page 44. Town Centre Recycling: New paper banks at Swan Hill, back of the Music Hall, and by Owen’s Passage, Castle Street.

Plastics. Derived from oil, a finite resource, a throw-away material (particularly at xmas), we use for a very short amount of time before discarding. It remains in the environment for a very long time, creating litter, and a danger of ingestion to animals and wildlife. Local contacts

Smile Plastics, Mansion House, Ford, SY5 9LZ T: 01743 850 267 W: www.smile-plastics.co.uk Make everything from beautiful work surfaces to bird-tables from recycled plastic. See their useful website for info on the bio-degradable/ non degradable bag issue.

CAE Post (see page 43)

Plastic Bags. Just don’t use them, get a permanent shopping bag instead. Failing that, supermarkets sell a bag-for-life which they will replace when worn out. Failing that, keep your old bags, and re-use, (as bin liners), give to shops or market stallholders, or recycle them at Sainsbury (by their front door) or Battlefield HRC. Some sensible shops are phasing out free bags – Wild Thyme, Appleyards, Wyle Cop, and Cook & Carve, (Market – Tue, Wed, Thur am, Fri & Sat) only give paper bags. If you want to use biodegradable and compostable bags and liners and cutlery, (all made from maize):

ecosac ltd, Tern Hill, Shropshire, TF9 3PX T: 01630 639 614 W: www.ecosac.net Use with kitchen and garden waste.

Biobag Ltd, Comet Rd., Moss Side Industrial Estate, Leyland, PR26 7PF T: 01772 641348 E: biobag@btconnect.com W: www.polargruppen.com (It is essential that biodegradable plastic bags are composted or put in the general waste stream, and not recycled along with ordinary plastic bags, to avoid contamination of materials. See Smile Plastic’s explanatory website, above)

Plastic Bottles - these, when discarded, litter the countryside. Use tap water instead! Plastic water and juice bottles can be recycled – along with other plastic liquid containers, such as shampoo, conditioner, washingup and cleaning liquid bottles - at plastic bottle banks at Battlefield, Frankwell Car Park and Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco supermarkets. Types 1 & 2 (number on bottom of container) are acceptable.

Plastic Cups Save A Cup T: 01494 510 167 W: www.save-a-cup.co.uk Will supply and collect your plastic cups for water or vending machines, and then recycle them into other objects. (An earthenware mug is better.)

Plastic flower pots. No-one recycles these, so try to avoid. Buy earthenware or biodegradeable (see Gardening section p30)

Plastic Wrappings Post your clean plastic wrappings (remove paper labels) to:

Polyprint Mailing Films, Rackheath Industrial Estate, Norwich, NR13 6LJ T: 01603 721 807 W: www.polyprint.co.uk

Records. Recycled Records, Unit 24, The Parade Shopping Centre, St. Mary’s Place, SY1 1DL T: 01743 364444 W: www.recycledrecords.co.uk

Recycled goods of al kinds See W: www.recyclenow.com

Refills - take back your Ecover cleaning product plastic bottles for refilling - to Wild Thyme Wholefoods, 1-2 Castle Gates, SY1 2AQ.

Scrappies Lutwyche Road, Church Stretton, Shropshire, SY6 6AT T: 01694 722511 W: www.scrappies.org Collects worthwhile scrap and sorts it, uses it, make things with it, passes it on, or sells it to members, who in their turn use it in children’s education.

Shoes – can be repaired and resoled, at a fraction of the original purchase cost. Most charity shops or clothes banks will be able to reuse or recycle them. Or put them in the green doorstep collection box.

Soil and Rubble. There is a specific skip for this at Battlefield HRC.

Spectacles . Most opticians accept old spectacles (in good condition), or they can be posted for reuse to: Vision Aid Overseas 12, The Bell Centre, Manor Royal, Crawley, RH 10 2F2 T: 01293 535 016 W: www.vao.org.uk Sorting and packing these provides work for UK prisoners.

Stamps . Oxfam and Red Cross shops will receive them. Also, to help save the endangered albatross, Pontesbury post office, or send UK and foreign stamps separately to RSPB stamps, PO Box 6198, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, LU7 9XT. Or drop in at The Natural Health Centre, Radbrook Green (see health section p34), to help the MS Society.

Telephone Directories can go in special paper banks, along with Yellow Pages, see below.

Televisions - see other pages

Tetrapak and liquid drinks containers ought to be recycled here in the UK. Tesco now recycles these. Stop press - see green guide updates (at the bottom of the green guide menu  above) or click here

Textiles and clothes – put in the fortnightly green box collection, or clothing skips at supermarkets, or at Battlefield HRC p57. Don’t put in duvets or pillows or rugs – these could be offered to Home Essentials, (see p48) if in good condition, or local dog’s homes. Seconds Out, Bomere Heath, Shrewsbury SY4 3AP. T: 01939 290272 Collect in bulk all shoes, clean clothes and bedlinen, for reuse in developing nations.

Tools + sewing machines, especially hand machines – can be re-used in developing countries. Tools for Self-Reliance T: 01588 660392 W: www.tfsr.org

Toys (see Toy Library in Baby and Children’s section p6) Or charity shops.

Tyres. Never ever burn old tyres, they give off toxic fumes. If you buy new, the supplier should take your old ones and correctly dispose.

Vegetable Oil. Ebony Solutions UK, Weaverham Grange, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 3AR T: 01606 301 222 Collect bulk veg oil to make and sell Biodiesel.

Water Filters . All parts of the Brita Cartridge are 100% recyclable and can be posted free of charge – in smallish quantities to: Brita Recycling, Freepost NAT 17876, Bicester OX26 4BR W: www.brita.co.uk

Wellie Boots. Plastic or rubber, put in your green box or in clothes recycling banks.

Wood & Timber. Take used wood to Battlefield HRC for recycling, so fewer trees will need to be chopped down. Shropshire Community Wood Recycling T: 01939 235701 M: 07999 576054 E: SCWoodRecycling@googlemail.com Based in Whitchurch, collects over 20-mile radius, sell wood, recycle and make wooden garden items.

Xmas Cards – see W: www.foe.co.uk/shop or T: 0207 490 1555 to buy a pack of FoE’s sticky labels to put over last year’s cards and resend. WH Smith and Tesco and TK Maxx have special collection areas after Xmas, to aid the Woodland Trust in replanting trees.

Xmas Trees. Annually, we buy (and later discard) 5 million of these! Buy a rooted tree for replanting, or, afterwards, leave out for the doorstep garden waste collection - please note: their max. length needs to be 5’ or 1.5m.

Yellow Pages – can’t be put in ordinary paper banks, because of the yellow dye! Give them to local school children to take to school, to get trees, educational projects, etc. Also special skips at supermarkets and Frankwell car park for old yps and telephone directories, after the new ones are delivered. YP’s are remade into loo rolls and paper boxes!

Zero Waste. This is what we should be striving for – many towns, cities and countries have made this their ambition – why not Shrewsbury?