E to H
E
F
G
H
Find your nearest Household Waste
Recycling Centre.
E
Egg boxes
Cardboard egg boxes can be recycled in the cardboard banks at
Household Waste Recycling Centres or local recycling sites.
If your local
council operates a kerbside collection scheme for cardboard,
they can be recycled here too. They could also be torn up and added
to your compost heap, or they make excellent biodegradable seed
pots.
Try to avoid purchasing eggs in plastic or polystyrene egg
boxes, as these do not break down easily.
Electrical items
Watch our short film to see how electrical items (WEEE) are
recycled in Kent:
These can often be repaired, reconditioned or sold for spare
parts. However, if they need to be disposed of, you can take them
to your local Household Waste Recycling Centres. Please place your
domestic electrical items such as electronic gadgets, tools,
appliances, games etc in the electrical appliances container for
recycling. Ask staff for details. Many electrical appliance
retailers also accept old electrical items for recycling.
Alternatively, contact your local council for details of a bulky waste
collection (a charge may be made for this service). New legislation
regarding electrical and electronic equipment disposal known as
WEEE (Waste
Electrical and Electronic Equipment) came into force in the UK in
2007. Electrical and electronic items should no longer be
disposed of as refuse. See the Recycle
Now website for how electricals are recycled.
Engine oil
Recycle your engine oil at the Household Waste Recycling Centres where it
will be refined for reuse. It can be used as a heating fuel or
recycled for use as new oil. It is illegal to pour it onto land or
down the drain.
The local
council are unable to collect engine oil as part of their
collection service.
Please visit the Oil bank line website to find
more disposal sites.
If you have trade waste oil, visit the Waste Directory
website.
Envelopes
Envelopes may be reused by covering the old address
with a new label. If unusable, recycle as paper at your local
Household Waste Recycling Centres, recycling site or kerbside
recycling collection. There is no need to remove plastic windows as
these will be removed during the recycling process.
F
Fabrics
These may be useful to charity shops or craft groups. They can
also be placed into textile banks for recycling at your local
Household Waste Recycling Centres or recycling site.
Fire extinguishers
Small domestic fire extinguishers, such as those you have in a
caravan, can be taken to the Household Waste
Recycling Centres and placed into the gas bottle container. For
information relating to fire extinguishers from businesses, please
contact your local fire service.
Fireworks
Remember the firework code to ensure a
safe firework display (PDF, 197k).
- Always wear strong gloves and use tongs to dispose of spent
fireworks
- Never put spent fireworks on the bonfire
- Soak misfired or partly spent fireworks in a container of water
in an area where they cannot be tampered with and contact the
manufacturer or supplier for advice on disposal
- Never dispose of them by burying
- Put fully spent fireworks (but not misfired or partly spent
fireworks) in refuse receptacles
Flares
We are not able to accept flares at the Household Waste
Recycling Centres. Information about what to do with flares is
on the
Directgov website.
Flower pots
See Plant
pots.
Fluorescent tubes
Fluorescent tubes and low energy bulbs are accepted at all
our Household Waste Recycling
Centres for recycling.
The tubes and bulbs are sent to an authorised
treatment facility, via the
WEEE directive (waste electrical and
electronic equipment).
Fly-tipping rubbish
It is a criminal offence to fly-tip
any type of waste, and fines can be as high as
£50,000 and even imprisonment. If you see fly-tipping, please
report it to your local council.
Foil
Check your kerbside collection scheme, most do accept foil. To
test if it is foil, scrunch it up and if it stays scrunched it is
foil, if not it may contain plastics as well and is not suitable
for recycling.
You can also put foil in the metal bins at the Household Waste
Recycling Centres.
See metal.
Foam and polystyrene chips
Used in packaging, reuse where possible. These are not currently
recycled in Kent.
Freecycle
Freecycle is one of many
websites now dedicated to enabling people to pass on unwanted items
for re-use.
Fridges/freezers
Domestic fridges and freezers are accepted at all Household Waste Recycling
Centres for safe disposal and recycling, or contact
your local council for details of a bulky collection (a charge may
be made for this service).
Old fridges and freezers are classified as hazardous waste
due to the CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) and HCFC
(hydrochloroflurocarbon) gases, contained in the insulation
foam and refrigerant, which must be recovered safely before
the units can be recycled for their metal content. These gases can
cause damage to the ozone layer if not dealt with properly.
Mini coolers and mini fridges must also be deposited into the
fridge and freezer section at your local Household Waste Recycling
Centre and must not go into the small electrical appliance
section.
Furniture
There are many furniture projects in Kent which repair and
re-use unwanted items, here are a few:
Necessary Furniture (covers Canterbury and surrounding area)
01227
712680
St Martins Emmaus (covers Dover and Folkestone areas)
01304 206600
YMCA (covers Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks
areas)
01732 361108
British Heart Foundation (covers Maidstone and Sittingbourne
areas)
0844 499 4168
To find further local charities please go to the Furniture Reuse Network website.
If you are unable to find a furniture re-use outlet near you,
furniture can be taken to household waste
recycling centres. A few of the recycling centres have a
designated container for furniture re-use, otherwise wood items may
be put in the wood recycling container.
Your local
council will also provide a collection service, for which a
charge may be made.
G
Garden waste
All of Kent County Council's household
waste recycling centres accept garden waste for composting such
as grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, plants and branches up to 10cm
diameter. Many local district and borough councils also provide
separate collection services for green waste. We do not accept
notifiable weeds; japanese knotweed or ragwort. Please ensure bags
are emptied out and put into the waste container.
Composting is the process of recycling organic wastes which would
otherwise be disposed of to landfill.
It is a natural process of decomposition caused by organisms and
creatures, such as bacteria and worms, which turns this waste into
a nutrient rich and peat-free material which can be used to feed
and condition the soil.
Over 30% of the waste we produce can be composted.
Gas
cylinders
If possible, return these to place of purchase, or contact the
manufacturers whose details are usually printed on the
cylinder. Otherwise, they can be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre. Empty bottles
are sorted into those with a known supplier, and those which have
no identifying marks. Gas bottles displaying supplier's details are
returned for reuse. Gas bottles without any markings are processed
for metal recycling.
Glass (bottles and jars)
Glass bottles and jars are accepted for recycling at all
Household Waste Recycling
Centres and many local recycling points, and can
be recycled over and over again.
To make recycling easier, follow the bottle bank code:
- Save all your bottles and jars
- Please do not put light bulbs or glass cookware into the bottle
banks as they are made of toughened glass
- Rinse your bottles and jars and remove all caps and corks
- Put your glass in the correct colour coded banks
- Blue glass bottles should be placed in
the green bottle bank
- Be considerate to local residents, do not use bottle banks at
night
- Use your local milk delivery service if possible. The bottles
are reused.
Also see Spectacles.
Glass (sheet)
You can take sheet glass to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre for disposal
(including broken glass). Please ask a member of staff for
assistance. Please do not put sheet glass in bottle
banks.
Grass cuttings
See Composting.
Green waste
See Garden waste.
H
Hardcore
Small amounts of domestic hardcore/rubble can be taken to your
local Household Waste Recycling Centre
for recycling.
As of 1 October 2012 the amount of soil, rubble and hardcore
will be limited to:
- 90kg (190lbs) per visit by a single vehicle of combined
trailer
- This weight represents the amount you could fit easily in a
standard hatchback car boot
- To help you, 33 bricks is equivalent to 90kg
For larger quantities you may need to consider hiring a skip or
a company to remove the material.
At a local plant, it is screened, crushed and sieved so that
several grades of material remain.
Soil can be used for land restoration or mixed with compost for
use in landscaping, and the rubble is reused in industry.
If you have trade waste hardcore, please contact the Environment
Agency for details of your nearest licensed disposal site, on 08708
506506.
Hazardous waste
Items such as chemicals and herbicides can be placed in special
containers at some Household Waste Recycling Centres for safe
disposal.
Household appliances
Electrical appliances can be recycled at your local Household Waste Recycling Centre, either in the
small or large electrical appliances containers.
Household Waste
Non-recyclable household waste is accepted at all the Household Waste Recycling
Centres.
Black sack waste and small non-recyclable items are sent to
Allington to be burned as fuel for energy production.
Please ensure there are no recyclables in your household waste
and try to keep your household waste to a minimum.
Household Waste Recycling Centres
Kent County Council operate 19 Household Waste Recycling Centres within Kent,
where a wide range of household waste can be taken for reuse,
recycling or disposal.