Where do Garden hose and plastic garden items go?

A hose is layered PVC, sometimes with a textile reinforcement braid, and it is exactly the shape that wraps around sorting machinery — the two facts between them rule out every kerbside route. Plant pots are a happier case: many are polypropylene and some councils and garden centres now collect them, though black ones face the same infrared sorting problem as black food trays. Broken plastic garden furniture goes to the rigid plastics skip at a household waste centre where one exists. Where the item still works, garden groups and allotments take pots, canes and trays readily. Which rigid plastics a site accepts is a local decision, so check before making the trip.

How to prepare it

1. Cut a long hose into shorter lengths so it cannot tangle in machinery.
2. Offer usable pots, trays and canes to an allotment or garden group.

What not to do

• Never put hose or netting in the kerbside recycling; long flexible items wrap around sorting shafts.

Compiled from local authority and garden centre acceptance lists.

Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

Other things that go to household waste recycling centre

• Leftover wet paint Household waste centre or a community paint reuse scheme. Liquid paint is not accepted in any household bin.
• Car batteries (lead-acid) Garage, scrap yard or household waste centre. Lead-acid is the most successfully recycled consumer product there is.
• Used motor oil Household waste centre oil bank, or a garage that accepts it. One container of it contaminates an enormous volume of water.
• Small electricals (kettles, toasters, hair dryers) Electrical waste. Household waste centre, a shop take-back point, or a kerbside small-electricals sack if your council runs one.
• Pyrex and heat-resistant glassware Never the glass bin. Ovenware is formulated not to melt like bottle glass, and one fragment can ruin a whole batch.
• Televisions and monitors WEEE recycling. Old CRT sets contain several kilograms of leaded glass.
• CFL energy-saving bulbs Household waste centre or a shop take-back point. They contain mercury and must not be binned.
• LED bulbs Small electricals recycling. No mercury, but they are electronics, not glass.
• Drinking glasses and wine glasses Not the glass bin. Tableware glass has a different composition from bottle glass.
• Smoke alarms Household waste centre or manufacturer return. Ionisation alarms contain a tiny sealed radioactive source.
• Crockery, mugs and ceramics Not glass and not recyclable at the kerb. Donate what is whole; broken pieces go to the household waste centre or general waste.
• Fluorescent tubes Household waste centre, intact. Mercury inside, and a tube that breaks in transit is a spill.
• Camping gas canisters and butane cartridges Household waste centre, as gas cylinders — not the metal skip and never a bin, whether or not they feel empty.
• Fire extinguishers Household waste centre or a fire equipment company. It is pressurised until a professional has discharged it.