A to Z of recycling - C

Camping gas bottles are different to normal deodorant cans because they contain up to 3 times the pressure which could cause serious damage at the re-processing facility! For this reason, gas canisters must not be placed into your rubbish or recycling bin at home. 

Recycle

          You can bring gas canisters to any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

Empty “pierced-top” style canisters can be recycled in the metal container at the recycling Centre.

"Valve-top" style canisters (like those shown above) can go in the gas bottle cage at the Recycling Centres. Please ask site staff for assistance. 

Draining Gas Canisters: 

• To fully drain any residual fuel, take your stove outdoors, attach the canister, and safely burn off any remaining gas.
• Be aware that the final fraction of fuel burns at a very slow rate due to low canister pressure, and that it can take a surprising amount of time to completely empty a canister.
• Even after the burner flame sputters out, keep the can open a while longer to ensure any final residual vapours escape.  For valve top canisters, then contact the manufacturer for further advice. 

For larger gas cylinders see "gas bottles and cylinders"

Recycle

You can recycle clean cans, tins, metal bottle/jar tops, takeaway carton bases and aluminium foil:

   in your kerbside recycling bin

 in any metal recycling bank.

or in the scrap metal container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

It would be helpful if you could roll aluminium foil up into a tennis sized ball.

Re-use

If you have any car parts and components suitable for re-use, consider selling them or exchanging them on an online trading website.

You can also donate cars so the cash will go to UK charities using the Give A Car scheme. 

Disposal

You need to dispose of car parts and components through a garage or licensed scrap dealer.

Recycle

    If you can take your child’s car seat apart to its different component parts first, then the materials can be placed in the appropriate recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

The hard plastic base would go in rigid plastics container and metal clasps can be recycled in the metal container.

The foam and textile materials are not recyclable and will need to go in your general rubbish bin or in the non-recyclable container at the Recycling Centre. 

Disposal

 You can take whole children’s car seats to your local Suffolk Recycling Centre and place them in the non-recyclable container. Please cut the straps on it to make sure the seat cannot be re-used.

Seats from cars and other vehicle parts are not accepted at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

Re-use

Cardboard boxes are ideal for moving and often in demand. Try advertising boxes for re-use on online re-use networks such as Freecycle or Freegle.

Recycle

You can recycle cardboard:Please make sure cardboard is flat, and remove tape and staples from the cardboard

    in your kerbside recycling bin

 in the cardboard container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Recycle as home compost 

    You can put cardboard into your compost bin as a particularly good way of reducing smells and increasing the effectiveness of your compost bin, since it provides air pockets. It's more effective if scrunched into handful sized bits. 

Re-use

Re-use cards in crafty activities such as making gift tags, bookmarks and notebooks!

Recycle

You can recycle cards (apart from glittered, foil affect or plastic sleeve & embellishments) in either:

  in your kerbside recycling bin 

in the paper container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Recycle as home compost 

    Small scraps of card which may get lost in the recycling process can be put in some kerbside composting bins or in your home compost bin.

Disposal

Do not put glittered, silver and gold type cards and wrapping paper in the kerbside recycling bin, because they can contaminate the paper product for the recycling mills.

You can put these type of cards either:

      in your general rubbish bin

in the non-recycling container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Re-use

Egg boxes and tubes can be used for a range of crafty activities e.g. wrap long wires/ cords in them, decorate and close off one end of them to store stationary, make up brushes, paint brushes or glue sticks in them or you can create an inexpensive bird feeder by covering them in peanut butter and rolling them in bird seed. 

Recycle

Cardboard toilet and kitchen roll inner tubes

Cardboard toilet and kitchen rolls can be recycled in your Suffolk kerbside recycling bins

or in the cardboard container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Cardboard egg boxes

Cardboard egg boxes can be put in your kerbside recycling bin. 

Home compost

    If scrunched up and placed in a home compost bin they provide a good source of carbon into the compost mix and create natural air-pockets which help the composting process.

Re-use

Cardboard tubes with metal bases (such as Pringles, gravy, hot chocolate) can be used for craft activities. Try searching the internet for lots of great ideas e.g. storage in the kitchen, stationary, money boxes, vases etc.

Recycle

Empty foil lined cardboard tubes with metal ends are accepted along with cartons (e.g. Tetra Pak) at Suffolk Recycling Centres. 

Please remove foil seal and plastic lids .

Foil seals can be recycled (rolled along with other clean foil into a tennis sized ball) in household recycling bins along with plastic lids (greater than 5cm diameter).

See A - Z flooring "Flooring" entry

Reduce

When possible, please choose products sold in easily recyclable packaging.

Reuse

There are a number of re-use options for cartons here.

Recycle

Drink and food cartons (known as ‘tetrapak’) can be recycled at any Suffolk Recycling Centre  the cartons should be squashed first before placing the lid back onto the carton.

If you can’t get to a recycling centre to recycle your cartons, you can recycle the carton lids by placing them in another plastic bottle (e.g. a plastic milk bottle) and putting them in your household recycling bin. Please do not place them separately in your recycling bin as small items get lost in the recycling process and will not be recycled.

Disposal

 If none of these options work for you then cartons should be placed in your rubbish bin.

We are no longer able to accept cartons in your kerbside recycling bin. This is because:

• We are unable to remove them mechanically and it is not cost effective to remove them by hand.
• There is a limited market for cartons as they are a ‘mixed content’ material, making them difficult to recycle.
• If you can't get to a recycling centre to recycle these the bottle tops can be recycled if you placed these into another container e.g. milk container to recycle these

We did investigate whether it would be possible to introduce carton banks at other public locations (such as alongside bottle banks at Supermarkets and Village Halls). Unfortunately, this option was very expensive and would not have provided value for money for Suffolk taxpayers.   

When was this change introduced?

The Materials Recycling Facility (known as the MRF), where recycling collected from Suffolk households is sorted, underwent a major refurbishment during 2019. This state-of-the-art facility has the latest mechanical and optical sorting equipment with far less reliance on hand-sorting. The refurbishment was necessary because the companies that turn our recyclable items back into new products and packaging are now demanding much higher quality materials from us. This means that cartons can no longer be recycled with paper (as they previously were). As we cannot separate cartons mechanically nor cost effectively remove them by hand, we can no longer accept them in the recycling bin. It is worth noting however that cartons accounted for less than 1% of all the materials delivered to the MRF between 2015 – 2019.

Changes to carton recycling have been communicated online and via social media since 2019. Due to the increasing levels of spoiled recycling, particularly since the start of lockdown, the new (2021) campaign has been launched to remind people of what they can and can’t recycle at home. Last year the cost to remove and dispose of spoiled recycling was in excess of £1million.

Recycle

Carton lids can be placed back on cartons after they have been rinsed and squashed and recycled at Recycling Centres. 

If you can’t get to a recycling centre to recycle you cartons, the carton lids can be placed inside another plastic bottle (e.g. milk bottle) and placed in your household recycling bin. Please do not place them separately in your recycling bin as small items get lost in the recycling process and will not be recycled. 

Re-use

      Some charity shops may accept music or video cassettes. 

Recycle

  Cassette tape gets tangled in the recycling process, therefore only empty (pull out the magnetic tape) cassettes can be recycled in the rigid plastic container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre. The easiest way to remove tape is to unscrew the cassette and remove the reels!  

Some recycling companies will accept unwanted tapes for recycling through postal collection.

Disposal

You must put cassettes with tape:

      in your kerbside rubbish bin

in the non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Disposal

You cannot recycle or compost waste from meat eating animals.

You should be double-bag waste and put it in your kerbside rubbish bin. You cannot take it to any Suffolk Recycling Centres.  

There are a number of commercial dog loos available to buy - try searching online for 'dog loo'.

For advice on hard plastic chopping boards, see "Plastics (Hard)"

For advice on wood chopping boards, see "Wood"

Reduce 

If your family or friends don’t particularly like Christmas crackers (and the waste they can create), consider not having them and having an alternative table activity or homemade gift for your guests?

Reuse 

Can you save the cardboard of the crackers to make Christmas cards or decorations next year?

Recycle

You can recycle the cardboard element of crackers (apart from glittered or foil effect and please remove any ribbons and the cracker snaps):

  in your kerbside recycling bin 

in the paper container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Disposal

Do not put glittered, or foil effect crackers in the kerbside recycling bin, because they can contaminate the paper product for the recycling mills.You can put these types of crackers: 

      in your general rubbish bin

in the non-recycling container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Re-use

If you no longer need your decorations and they are in good condition, consider donating to Reuse shops, charity shops or online networks like Freegle and Freecycle. They are a great place to buy second hand decorations too.

Disposal

Christmas decorations can’t be recycled so if they are beyond reuse or repair, please put them: 

      in your general rubbish bin

in the non-recycling container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Please see 'fairy lights' 

Recycle

Real Christmas trees

   You can recycle real Christmas trees in your kerbside compost bin. 

 If your real tree is too large or its stem is too thick, then you may find it easier to take it to any Suffolk Recycling Centre, which accept whole Christmas trees in the garden waste container. 

Artificial Christmas trees

 You can recycle artificial trees at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

These will be accepted in either the metal or hard plastic bin depending on the main materials it is constructed from - please ask site staff if you are unsure.

Natural materials on wreaths, such as ivy, fir cones, mistletoe and holly, can be composted as long as they are not covered with excessive glitter.

Simply remove the greenery from the base and add to your garden waste collection, or put in the garden waste container at your local household waste recycling centre.

Artificial decorations such as ribbons and plastic flowers will need to be removed as these cannot be recycled. Keep hold of these and reuse them next year! 

See 'biscuit tins' 

Reduce

When available, consider using refills rather than buying a new container. 

Recycle

You can recycle all cleaning product bottles and plastic containers.

Loose bottle tops are too small to survive the pre-sorting process at the recycling facility. They won’t get recycled unless you wash and squash your empty plastics bottles and then place the top back on.

You can then recycle:

  in your kerbside recycling bin

in the plastic bottle container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

To find more information about which plastics you can and can't recycle see our "plastic" entries

Disposal

Generally, non-infectious waste such as dressings or incontinence pads may be double bagged for hygiene and placed in your kerbside rubbish bin.

Contact your local district or borough council for advice about the safe collection and disposal of clinical waste generated in your home. 

See "Textiles"

Reduce

Say no to coat hangers when buying new clothes if you have spare ones at home already.
 

Reuse

Offer unwanted items to friends, neighbours or relatives. Coat hangers in good condition could be offered to charity shops or through an online reuse network. Find your nearest charity shop.
 

Recycle

You can recycle metal, wood and plastic coat hangers in the appropriate container at  any Suffolk Recycling Centre according to the main material they are made of (i.e. in the Scrap Metal , Wood or Hard Plastics containers).

Coat hangers made from any material are not accepted in the kerbside recycling bin.

Reduce

Why not buy yourself a reusable coffee cup instead? There are lots of different styles and sizes on offer.

Some businesses may even offer money off if you bring your own cup.

Recycle

Why not ask your local Costa or Starbucks if you can recycle your coffee cup in their store as some will be able to take back coffee cups (even from other stores) for recycling!

MacDonald’s coffee cups can be recycled in any MacDonald’s outlet in their own recycling bin

You can recycle the cardboard sleeve and plastic lid:

     in your kerbside recycling bin

in the cardboard and plastic containers at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Recycle as home compost

      If the cup has a compostable symbol on it, you can compost it at home in your garden.

Disposal

You cannot recycle non-compostable coffee cups due to the mix of materials in them.

You will need to put them in your kerbside rubbish bin or in the non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

See "Tea bags and coffee grounds"

Recycle

If you live in Ipswich, you can recycle your coffee pods alongside your kerbside bin collection. – for all the details click here.

If the kerbside collection scheme isn’t in your area, you might be able to drop off your pods at a drop off location. Enter your postcode into the following website to find out if there is one near you  - https://www.podback.org/

 You can also recycle coffee pods from the following brands: Nespresso, Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Starbucks by Nespresso, Starbucks by Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Tassimo, L’OR and Cru Kafe

at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

Disposal

If your coffee pods are not any of the brands listed above which can be recycled, please put them: 

     in your kerbside rubbish bin

in the non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

For advice on hard plastic colanders, see "Plastic (Hard)"

For advice on metal colanders, see "Metal"

Reduce

Home composting is a great way to help reduce your waste at home - over 30% of household waste can be composted when combined with organic waste from the garden.

There are currently offers for a range of different types of home composting systems - including some which deal with cooked food waste. See the latest offers on compost bins.

Home compost

Many everyday household items are now packaged in compostable materials made from natural plant starches, such as corn-starch, which can be used as an alternative to plastic polymers.

  These include types of food packaging (e.g. some brands of sandwich packets) and food and waste bags. Although giving the appearance of plastics packaging, items labelled with this leaf symbol will break down eventually in a home compost bin. 

Please note: Due to operational restrictions at large-scale composting facilities compostable packaging cannot be accepted in kerbside composting collection bins.

Recycle

 You can recycle used cooking oil at any Suffolk Recycling Centre. 

Reduce

Consider using scrunched up newspaper, plain dry popped corn or breaking down old polystyrene packaging for posting fragile items rather than buying new packaging.

Recycle as home compost 

  These 'peanut' or 'Wotsit' shaped materials are used to package many fragile items and can be made from compostable natural corn-starch. These look virtually identical to polystyrene packing peanuts but can easily identified by making them wet - the corn-starch variety will begin to dissolve whereas the polystyrene will remain the same.

Corn-starch versions can be home composted - either dissolve in water and add the 'slurry', or bury in the compost pile to dissolve naturally. 

  Please note - the polystyrene versions unfortunately cannot be recycled. Please place these in a bag and dispose of in your kerbside rubbish bin or at any Suffolk Recycling Centre, in the non-recyclable container.

Please place these in your kerbside rubbish bin. Further advice on disposal of COVID tests are found on Home Disposal PDF

Terracycle recycling scheme

Walkers and Terracycle have partnered together to create a crisp recycling scheme so you can drop off any used crisps packets at public drop off points. Popcorn bags, crisp tubes, pretzel bags and meat snack bags are not accepted.

Find more information and your nearest drop off point.

Crisp packets are now also accepted in the Co-op's soft plastic recycling scheme. Find out more here. 

Disposal

Crisp packets are made from mix of plastic and metal materials which can't easily be recycled. Please place them:

     in your general rubbish bin

in the non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Reduce

Before thinking about reuse, recycling or disposal options for your crockery, have you considered whether it could be repaired?

There are several repair cafes and groups in Suffolk who offer free help to local communities. Please visit this page to find out more.

Re-use

     Offer items in good condition to charity shops or through an online re-use network.

Sell through a car boot sale, jumble sale, or online market. Offer unwanted items to friends, neighbours or relatives. 

You can also take old or unwanted gently used items to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and to put them in the orange re-use containers at site. These items can then be used to support local charities. (Check which items are accepted)

Recycle

  If they are chipped, broken, or otherwise beyond re-use, please take them to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and place in the bin for hardcore and rubble. There is no charge for disposing of these materials. 

For advice on crockery cups, see "Crockery" entry above

For advice on hard plastic cups, see "Plastic (Hard)"

Glass cups: If these aren't suitable for re-use they will need to be put in your kerbside rubbish bin as they cannot be recycled.

For advice on hard plastic cutlery, see "Plastic (Hard)"

For advice on metal cutlery, see "Metal"