Your guide to recycling

• Why should I recycle?

  In north London we throw away almost a million tonnes of rubbish every year, enough to fill eight football stadiums. Throwing away rubbish is expensive and damages the environment as it wastes the energy and materials needed to make the products we all use and can cause pollution.

  Recycling is easy… Many residents in north London have already been provided with a doorstep recycling service. All boroughs have recycling banks on the street and most boroughs have a local re-use and recycling centre.

  To find out more about recycling in your borough please contact your local council:

  

  There's more tips and advice on recycling in waste & resources. 

• What materials can I recycle?

  There is a difference between what individual councils collect and not all materials can be recycled in every borough. Materials that can typically be recycled at re-use and recycling centres include:

  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Paper including newspaper, junk mail and magazines
  • Cardboard
  • Yellow pages
  • Books
  • CDs and DVDs
  • Plastic bottles
  • Food and drink cans
  • Aluminium foil
  • Aerosols
  • Car and household batteries
  • Mobile phones
  • Computers
  • Domestic appliances
  • Furniture
  • Metal
  • Engine oil
  • Food and garden waste
  • Wood
  • Clothing, textiles and shoes
  • Soil and rubble

  A more limited range will be collected from your home or at nearby recycling banks.

  To find out what you can recycle where you live please contact your local council, or visit www.recyclenow.com.

• Why can't some things be recycled?

  It is not possible or cost effective to recycle every type of waste. Some waste is too contaminated or there may not be enough to make it economical to recycle.

  There are some differences between councils so please contact your local council or go to www.recyclenow.com to see what can be recycled in your area.

  

• Where can I recycle my waste?

  To find out where you can take your recycling please contact your local council, visit our recycling pages or go to www.recyclenow.com to find information on all the sites in your area.

  

• Where can I recycle my electrical items?

  Electrical items such as mobile phones, computers, kettles and shavers can be taken to your local reuse and recycling centre. For all you need to know about recycling electrical items, from what can be recycled and where in north London it can be taken, please read our handy guide to recycling all things electrical. Alternatively contact your local council or go to www.recyclenow.com.

  

• What happens to my recycling after it is collected?

  This depends on where you live. All the separately collected kitchen and garden waste collected in north London from your property or at recycling centres is made into compost. Mostly this happens at the Edmonton site operated by LondonWaste Ltd, but if there is too much it will be taken to another composting site in the surrounding area. It should never be incinerated or sent to landfill.

  Dry recyclables such as paper and glass are either sorted at the kerbside or taken to one of the existing Material Recycling Facilities (MRF) in London where it is sorted into the various components. After sorting by either method the materials are then taken to reprocessors to be recycled into new products.

• What happens to waste that cannot be recycled after it is collected?

  Currently, waste that cannot be recycled is either used to generate electricity or is transported to a landfill site.  This may change in the future as the NLWA embarks on a major procurement project for future waste disposal services. These services will include the construction and operation of new facilities that are required to tackle waste growth, increase recycling and reduce the waste that goes to landfill sites.

• My rubbish hasn't been collected - what should I do?

  The NLWA does not collect waste. Please contact your local council by clicking the relevant link below:

  

• Does my recycling get incinerated or sent to landfill?

  If your council collects waste for composting or recycling it will not be incinerated or sent to landfill unless it is too contaminated to be processed. It is important therefore that residents do not put the wrong things in the waste collected for recycling or composting. The NLWA and the boroughs plan ahead to make sure that there are enough facilities available to recycle and compost all of the waste that is collected separately for this purpose. Waste that cannot be recycled is either used to generate electricity or sent to landfill.

• Do you pay reuse and recycling credits?

  Reuse and recycling credits are paid to third parties that remove items from the municipal waste stream for reuse or recycling that would otherwise have been sent for disposal at the Authority’s expense.  Please go to register for reuse and recycling credits for further information.

• How is reducing and reusing different from recycling?

  Reduction
  Waste reduction is about preventing waste before it is created and there are simple steps we can all take to reduce the amount of rubbish we produce.  Our waste & resources pages have further advice and tips on reducing your rubbish.  To find out more about what we are doing to reduce waste in north London please see the North London Waste Prevention Plan

  Reuse
  Before we consider recycling an item we should look to see if we can reuse it.  Many items can be reused – from carrier bags and clothes to books and furniture.  Reusing an object uses far less energy than recycling it.

• Do you have any information or resources for educators?

  You can find some useful information in our waste & resources section.  Alternatively please contact your local council by clicking the link below: