If paint is in liquid form and there is a hazard logo on the tin, it may fall under the Household Hazardous Waste Scheme. For advice on disposal, contact the Waste and Recycling helpline on 0845 603 7625.
Recycling centres accept a variety of paper goods including:
Books
Reduce: Borrow from libraries or join a book-swapping club.
Reuse: Buy or sell used books through online auction sites. Many charity shops also accept donated books for resale.
Recycling: Essex County Council recycling centres accept books in any condition. There are separate containers for hardbacks and paperbacks. The books are then reused and can benefit many local charities.
Some district and borough councils have local book banks. Please contact your local council for details.
Books should not be placed in paper recycling banks due to the strong glue used to bind the pages.
Christmas cards
Reuse: Cut up Christmas card pictures and use as gift tags, or collage together to make homemade cards for the following year.
Recycle: Christmas cards can be recycled in Essex County Council's Christmas card recycling boxes located at County Hall, Chelmsford, during the Christmas and New Year period. Money raised from recycling the cards is donated to the chairman of the council's chosen charity.
Cards can be taken to any
Essex County Council recycling centre and placed in the cardboard container for recycling.
Please do not put cards in the newspaper and magazine recycling banks.
Envelopes
Reuse: Remove the original address label on the envelope, or cover with paper with the new address written on.
Mail
Before any action is taken, you will receive advice on the type of mail this action affects.
Recycle: Junk mail is classed as paper and may be collected through local council kerbside collections. Alternatively it can be placed in the designated container any
Essex County Council recycling centre. Do not put cardboard in newspaper and magazine recycling banks, the fibres in cardboard are of a lower grade than paper and upset the paper recycling process, place in the cardboard container instead.
Telephone directories
Reduce: If you no longer wish to receive yearly-issued telephone directories, you can take yourself off the BT phonebook mailing list. Details are contained within the directory itself. There are similar services available from other directories
Disposal: Plasterboard cannot be mixed with other waste. You can take plasterboard sheets, broken plasterboard and painted/wall papered plasterboard to
Essex County Council Recycling Centres. Bins for these materials are available at all of our recycling centres, except the following smaller sites.
- Burnham on Crouch - nearest bin is at Maldon (Park Drive), or South Woodham Ferrers (Ferrers Road)
- Dovercourt - nearest bin is at Kirby le Soken (Maltings Lane) Lawford - nearest bin is at Kirby le Soken (Maltings Lane), or Clacton (Rush Green Road), or Colchester (Shrub End)
- Mersea Island - nearest bin is at Colchester (Shrub End)
- Mountnessing - nearest bin is at Brentwood (Coxtie Green Road), or Chelmsford (Drovers Way, North Springfield)
- Harlow (River Way), or Chigwell (Luxborough Lane)
Reduce: Buying items in one large bag instead of several smaller snack-size bags saves on packaging, you can then split portions into reusable containers. Reusing and refilling water bottles reduces the need to buy new ones. Consider buying fruit and vegetables loose or choose items in biodegradable film which will break down. Download a copy of the
Shop-Eco guide for more tips.
Recycle: Plastic bottles such as drinks bottles, shampoo bottles, detergent bottles and milk bottles can be recycled at any
Essex County Council recycling centre. Empty and rinse the bottles in warm water and squash them so they take up less room.
Mixed plastics
Carrier bags
Reduce: Politely decline carrier bags in shops and have your own bag available.
Reuse: Keep carrier bags in your car or bag so they are to hand when you next go shopping. Reuse bags to line bins and as padding in parcels.
Recycle: Carrier bag recycling banks can be found at many supermarkets. Some district and borough councils may also include them in their kerbside collections.
Plastic coat / clothing hangers
Reduce: Leave unwanted hangers in shops.
Reuse: Donate to charity shops and homeless shelters.
Recycle: Larger supermarkets may provide a hanger recycling bank, check at you nearest store.
Other forms of plastic, such as hard plastics (toys, DVD cases) and carrier bags should be reused or donated where possible. If this is not possible, they should be disposed of as part of household waste.
Reuse: Some shops and online companies provide a printer cartridge refill service. See your local directory or search online for details.
Recycle: You can recycle your printer cartridges by donating them to participating charities or taking them to stores that run recycling schemes.
Printer cartridges should be in the original packaging or wrapped in cardboard or paper to prevent damage.