A to Z of recycling - T

For advice on medicine tablets, see "Medicine"

For advice on electronic tablets, see "Small electrical items"

See "Cassettes"

Recycle

You can put tea bags and coffee grounds in the kerbside compost bin for the Ipswich and Suffolk Coastal (now East Suffolk) areas.

Home compost

You can compost tea bags (loose and bagged) and coffee grounds in your home compost bin. 

Recycle

You can recycle catalogues and telephone directories (including Yellow pages):

   in your kerbside recycling bin

 in the paper bank at your local Suffolk Recycling Centre

Make sure to remove the plastic film packaging before recycling.

Reduce

Repair broken items wherever possible.

Re-use

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have a second-hand scheme which will collect unwanted working binoculars, telescopes, spotting scopes or tripods.

 You can also offer items in good condition to charity shops or through an online reuse network, or sell through a car boot sale, jumble sale, or online market place.

Offer unwanted items to friends, neighbours or relatives, or re-gift unwanted gifts next Christmas. 

Re-use

Repair damaged textiles wherever possible. For example, it may be possible to patch ripped garments, or replace buttons or zips.

Pass wearable garments onto younger children as hand-me-downs.

Offer items in good condition and full working order to charity shops or through an online re-use network.

Sell through a car boot sale, jumble sale, or online market.

Offer unwanted items to friends, neighbours or relatives, or re-gift unwanted gifts next Christmas.

Garments beyond repair can be torn up and re-used as rags and wipers. 

Recycle

Recycle any unwanted textiles (clothes, shoes, stuffed toys, leather belts etc):

 to any Suffolk Recycling Centre

to textiles or clothing banks (please be aware that some banks may not accept shoes, belts, or toys so please check at the bank before recycling these)

• If you have separate broken zips, see the "zips" entry for advice
• If you have bedding (duvets, pillows, cushions etc), see the "bedding" entry

Re-use

Offer items in good condition and full working order to charity shops or through an online re-use network.

Sell through a car boot sale, jumble sale, or online market.

Offer unwanted items to friends, neighbours or relatives. 

Disposal 

You cannot recycled flasks due to the mix of materials.

Put thermos flasks:

     in your kerbside rubbish bin

in the non-recyclable container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

See "Bathroom suite"

For advice on hard plastic toilet seats, see "Hard Plastics"

For advice on wooden toilet seats, see "Wood"

Hard plastic toothbrush

Re-use

After your old toothbrush has been properly cleaned (soaked in bleach solution) you can use it for a range of cleaning tasks around the home. For example, it's useful for cleaning taps, tools, windows, keyboards and shoes.

Recycle

Toothbrushes are not accepted in your kerbside recycling collection bin. 

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

Electric toothbrush

See "Small electrical items". You can recycle the hard plastic heads at any Suffolk Recycling Centre in the rigid plastic container.

Bamboo or wooden toothbrush

If the bristles are plastic, break them off (if they are bamboo, plant based or charcoal they can be left on) and then you can either:

   put it in your home compost bin or

put them in the wood container at any Suffolk Recycling Centre

Recycle

 You can recycle turf at any Suffolk Recycling Centre (with most of the soil removed) in the garden waste container.

Re-use

  Some charities will accept televisions for reuse. Find your nearest charity shop.

You can also sell or exchange television and monitors through an online re-use network, car boot sale, jumble sale, or online market. Offer unwanted items to friends, neighbours or relatives.

If it is in good condition, it can also be taken to any Suffolk Recycling Centre and placed in the re-use container (ask site staff for details).

Recycle

 You can recycle TVs and monitors at your local Suffolk Recycling Centre in the large domestic appliance section.

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

Reduce

Drive or ride carefully, avoiding unnecessarily heavy braking and cornering and harsh acceleration to keep tyre wear to a minimum.

Keep tyres inflated to the correct pressure. If you store unused tyres for future use, keep them out of direct sunlight, and ensure they are not crushed as this will lead to cracking.  

Re-use

Turn old tyres into planters.

Cut old inner tubes into strips to be re-used as wheel rim tape.

Recycle

Old vehicle tyres will be accepted by the fitting garage whenever they fit a new tyre to the vehicle (though a disposal charge may be added to your bill for this).

Another option is to contact your local scrap or car dismantling yard, because some will accept tyres at a charge.

You cannot dispose tyres at any Suffolk Recycling Centre.