Ealing expands home recycling to toothpaste tubes and plastic plant pots

Toothpaste tubes and plastic plant pots can now go into household recycling collections in Ealing. The council announced the change on 14 September, at the start of Recycle Week. Black plant pots remain excluded because their colouring prevents sorting equipment from identifying them properly.

Check the container and collection day

The expanded list does not mean every building uses the same collection system. At properties with kerbside collections, wheelie-bin recycling is collected fortnightly. The council asks residents to put it out by 7am on the correct day. Flats above shops and homes on estates may use clear sacks or communal bins. The council's address-based service checker helps residents identify the arrangements for their property. People who cannot move their bins to the collection point themselves can also request assistance.

Keep food waste separate

Food waste is collected weekly. Suitable contents include peelings, bread, plate scrapings, meat and bones, and coffee grounds. Packaging, liquids and ordinary plastic bags are excluded. Newspaper or compostable bags can be used as liners, although the council does not supply these. A new or replacement outdoor food waste bin can be ordered free of charge. Collected food is processed to produce electricity and fertiliser.

Coffee pods have their own route

Podback offers a free collection and recycling system for used coffee pods. Its website asks for the machine type, pods and postcode to identify the available return options. Materials are separated: aluminium goes back into manufacturing metal products, while plastic is processed into pellets. The remaining coffee is sent to a food waste processing plant. Check the instructions for your particular product before putting a whole capsule into a kitchen food waste container.

Items that can still be useful

ReActon, on Stirling Road in Acton, W3 8DJ, offers second-hand books, household paint and school uniform. It also accepts the items listed by its organiser for reuse, including clothes, hangers and small electricals. The current September timetable gives opening hours of 11am to 2pm on Mondays and midday to 3pm on Fridays.

Free sessions on turning T-shirts into yarn and repairing clothes are scheduled there for Mondays 21 and 28 September. The organiser's webpage links to reservations. Before travelling, check the time of the workshop you want to attend and the accepted donations list, so you bring items the hub can use.