A to Z of recycling - F

Personal protective equipment (PPE) items such as disposable face masks and gloves cannot be recycled in Suffolk, so need to be placed in your general rubbish bin. 

Please follow the link below for more information on how to safely to dipose of any PPE or other COVID-19 related waste: 

https://suffolkrecycling.org.uk/waste-services-and-coronavirus-covid-19

Reduce

Before thinking about reuse, recycling or disposal options for your fairy lights, have you considered whether they could be repaired?

There are several repair cafes and groups in Suffolk who offer free help to local communities. Please visit this page to find out more.

Re-use 

  If you no longer have a need for your fairly lights and they are in good working order, offer them to charity shops or through online networks like Freegle and Freecycle.

Recycle

If they are beyond repair or reuse take them to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and place in small electricals items container. Make sure any batteries are removed and recycled in battery container.

Electrical items (mains and battery powered) must not be thrown away in your rubbish bin. They contain small quantities of hazardous material as well as precious metals and should be properly recycled.

Disposal

You can take solid fibreglass panels and/or sections as well as soft insulation rolls of fibreglass to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and put in the non-recyclable container. 

You cannot take whole boats to the recycling centres. Find advice on how to dispose of fibreglass boats. 

See "Smoke Detectors"

Recycle

You can take fire extinguishers from your home to any Suffolk Recycling Centre, except Halon and BCFs (dispose of these types through the manufacturer or through the hazardous waste collection service provided by district councils). 

If the fire extinguishers are not from your household or are from a business, you can either:

• contact the manufacturer or supplier who may collect them
• take them to a Suffolk Household Waste Recycling Centre for a charge

To transport waste you will need a waste carriers license.

Disposal

Never put fireworks, even those which are fully spent, on the bonfire. 

Never dispose of them by burying. 

 Soak fully spent fireworks in a container of water after use (till soaked right though, this could take several hours), then put in your kerbside rubbish bin. 

Soak misfired or partly spent fireworks in a container of water in an area where they cannot be tampered with (preferably away from the display site) and contact the manufacturer or supplier for advice on disposal. 

Recycle

Nylon monofilament and braided fishing lines can be recycled as part of the Angler's national line recycling scheme. You can find your nearest recycling point and more about the scheme on the ANLRS website.

Disposal

If the fishing lines cannot be taken by the above scheme, they are not recyclable, so please place in: 

 your kerbside rubbish bin

your non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Disposal

Flares cannot be disposed of in your black bin or in the non-recyclable container at the recycling centres.

Please contact the manufacturer for advice on how to dispose of these.

Re-use

Consider re-using the flooring in sheds or cupboards.

Carpets can also be used as under pond liners, or in the garden as a mulch mat (if it is hessian backed). 

Recycle as home compost

 You can place small amounts of carpet on top of compost heaps to keep in the heat. This makes the organic material break down more quickly. 

Disposal

If the flooring is not suitable for re-use, you can take it to any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

You can recycle wood flooring in the wood container. However, you will need to dispose of carpet, vinyl or underlay in the non-recyclable container on site.

Re-use

You could offer them up through an online re-use network or make use of them in your own home as drinks mats! 

Recycle

You cannot put floppy discs in your kerbside recycling bin.

 However, you can recycle floppy discs in the rigid plastic container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

Recycle

You can recycle clean aluminium foil: 

   in your kerbside recycling bin

It would be helpful if you could roll aluminium foil up into a tennis sized ball before placing in your kerbside recycling bin. 

Recycle

Cardboard only folders can be recycled in kerbside recycling bin or in the carboard container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

If a folder has any type of metal in it then it can be recycled in the metal container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre (including ringbinders).

Hard plastic only folders can be placed in the rigid plastic container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

Disposal

If the folders are made from thinner plastic, plastic film or mixed materials (which does not include metals) it cannot currently be recycled in Suffolk and will have to go in the kerbside rubbish bin or in the non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.

Reduce and re-use

For food waste reduction tips and ideas for meals made from leftovers, see our Food Savvy website. Also Love Food, Hate Waste website is a great source of inspiration for this too.

You can also follow our new Food Savvy Suffolk social media channels where we will be sharing top tips, handy hints and recipe ideas.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoodSavvySfk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoodSavvySfk

Home Compost

Raw fruit and vegetables peelings as well as eggshells can be placed in a standard home compost bin.

Only specialist composting systems such as the HotBin or Bokashi kitchen digester can deal with all cooked food waste.

See a whole range of compost systems at subsidised prices on Suffolk Get Composting.

Disposal

Do not put any food/drink waste in your recycling bin. You can dispose of unavoidable food waste in your black bin (non-recyclable bin). 

Only domestic type fridge and freezers will be accepted at the site, if you have a industrial type fridge or freezers it will likely be classed as trade waste and may not not accepted due to electrical take back scheme restrictions.

See ''large electrical items''

Reduce

Before thinking about reuse, recycling or disposal options for your furniture, have you considered whether it could be repaired?

There are several repair cafes and groups in Suffolk who offer free help to local communities. Please visit this page to find out more.

Re-use

Offer furniture in good condition to charity shops (find your nearest charity here) or through an online reuse network, sell at a car boot sale, jumble sale or online market place. They can also be offered to friends, neighbours or relatives. Furniture in good condition can also be taken to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and placed in the re-use container (ask site staff for details).

Please note: If you want to donate a sofa or upholstered furniture to a charity it needs to have the fire labels still attached otherwise they will not be able to take it.

Recycle

Take to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and place it in the container appropriate to the material the piece of furniture is made of. 

Alternatively, your local borough or district council offers a charged bulky waste collection service.