---
title: "What goes to household waste recycling centre"
description: "24 things that belong in household waste recycling centre, with why each one goes there and what happens if it goes elsewhere."
url: https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/household-waste-centre/
site: "At One Place"
---

# What goes to household waste recycling centre

24 things that belong in household waste recycling centre.

| Item | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| 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. |
| Mirrors | Household waste centre. The reflective backing means it is not recyclable glass. |
| Cables, chargers and leads | Electrical waste or scrap metal. The copper inside is worth recovering. |
| Plasterboard and plaster | Separate skip or a dedicated bay at the household waste centre. It is banned from mixed landfill in many places for a reason. |
| Rubble, bricks and concrete | Household waste centre or a skip, as inert waste. Expect to be charged. |
| Window and greenhouse glass | Household waste centre, as flat glass — never the bottle bank. |
| Soil and turf | Household waste centre as inert waste, usually with a charge and a quantity limit. Not the garden waste bin. |
| Treated and painted timber | Household waste centre, in the treated wood skip. Never burned in a stove, a bonfire or a chiminea. |
| Scrap metal | Scrap metal skip at the household waste centre, or a scrap dealer who will pay for it. Metal is worth money. |
| Garden hose and plastic garden items | General waste or the household waste centre. Hose is a mixed-plastic tangle and no kerbside scheme takes it. |
| Solar garden lights | Small electricals. There is a rechargeable cell inside every one of them. |

- [Leftover wet paint](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/paint-wet/) — Household waste centre or a community paint reuse scheme. Liquid paint is not accepted in any household bin.
- [Car batteries (lead-acid)](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/car-batteries/) — Garage, scrap yard or household waste centre. Lead-acid is the most successfully recycled consumer product there is.
- [Used motor oil](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/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)](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/small-electricals/) — 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](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/pyrex/) — Never the glass bin. Ovenware is formulated not to melt like bottle glass, and one fragment can ruin a whole batch.
- [Televisions and monitors](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/televisions/) — WEEE recycling. Old CRT sets contain several kilograms of leaded glass.
- [CFL energy-saving bulbs](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/cfl-bulbs/) — Household waste centre or a shop take-back point. They contain mercury and must not be binned.
- [LED bulbs](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/led-bulbs/) — Small electricals recycling. No mercury, but they are electronics, not glass.
- [Drinking glasses and wine glasses](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/drinking-glasses/) — Not the glass bin. Tableware glass has a different composition from bottle glass.
- [Smoke alarms](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/smoke-alarms/) — Household waste centre or manufacturer return. Ionisation alarms contain a tiny sealed radioactive source.
- [Crockery, mugs and ceramics](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/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](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/fluorescent-tubes/) — Household waste centre, intact. Mercury inside, and a tube that breaks in transit is a spill.
- [Camping gas canisters and butane cartridges](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/gas-canisters/) — Household waste centre, as gas cylinders — not the metal skip and never a bin, whether or not they feel empty.
- [Fire extinguishers](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/fire-extinguishers/) — Household waste centre or a fire equipment company. It is pressurised until a professional has discharged it.
- [Mirrors](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/mirrors/) — Household waste centre. The reflective backing means it is not recyclable glass.
- [Cables, chargers and leads](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/cables/) — Electrical waste or scrap metal. The copper inside is worth recovering.
- [Plasterboard and plaster](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/plasterboard/) — Separate skip or a dedicated bay at the household waste centre. It is banned from mixed landfill in many places for a reason.
- [Rubble, bricks and concrete](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/rubble/) — Household waste centre or a skip, as inert waste. Expect to be charged.
- [Window and greenhouse glass](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/window-glass/) — Household waste centre, as flat glass — never the bottle bank.
- [Soil and turf](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/soil/) — Household waste centre as inert waste, usually with a charge and a quantity limit. Not the garden waste bin.
- [Treated and painted timber](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/treated-timber/) — Household waste centre, in the treated wood skip. Never burned in a stove, a bonfire or a chiminea.
- [Scrap metal](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/scrap-metal/) — Scrap metal skip at the household waste centre, or a scrap dealer who will pay for it. Metal is worth money.
- [Garden hose and plastic garden items](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/garden-hose/) — General waste or the household waste centre. Hose is a mixed-plastic tangle and no kerbside scheme takes it.
- [Solar garden lights](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/solar-lights/) — Small electricals. There is a rechargeable cell inside every one of them.