Whether you are having a clear out as your little ones are growing up, you are moving house, it is the new year or heading towards spring. Before you throw away your items, see where you can recycle them, to either benefit yourself, others or just the planet – Think Recycle.
GIVE LOCAL
There are lots of good websites you can give away items to those that can collect or you can sell your items on, many for no charge to yourself.
Rehome your unwanted food:
Olio (app)
Food banks
Facebook groups/marketplace
Recycle or sell your unwanted non-food items:
Sites/Places you can only give your items away for free to:
Freecycle
Freegle
FreelyWheely
Olio (app)
Food banks can often take other products like brand new packs of nappies.
Charity shops
Sites you can offer for free or sell:
Preloved
Pets4Homes (Pet items)
Freeads
Gumtree
Shpock
Vinted (Must be willing to post)
eBay
Facebook Groups/Marketplace
Recycling Schemes
Before you throw them away or recycle, do you have time and space to keep hold of them so that you can earn money and benefit from them?
BEAUTY/PERFUME
– LUSH take back any 5 black or clear pots and get a free £10 face mask or use their Recycle scheme (50p in-store credit per container)
– Back to MAC Program, recycle any 6 MAC empty container free lipstick worth £17.50 (After March 31, 2023, we will discontinue the free product incentive (though you can continue to bring in your empties)
– Boots recycle any 5 packages for 500 points when you also spend £10 in store – empty beauty, health, wellness and dental products, from any brand, that can’t be recycled at home.
– The Perfume Shop, bottle recycling, any whole glass perfume bottles, you can get 10% off your purchase in store the same day.
CLOTHING
– H&M any bag of clothes, any condition = £5 voucher off £25 purchase or more.
– John Lewis fashion recycle, good condition = My John Lewis member, £5 off £20 purchase.
– Oxfam & M&S Shwopping Scheme – £5 voucher for a £35 spend, when you make a donation to an Oxfam Shop and the donation contains at least one item of M&S-labelled clothing (including shoes, handbags, belts, hats and scarves) or M&S-labelled soft furnishings (bed linen, towels, cushions, curtains, throws, aprons, tablecloths and napkins).
– Sell your soles = £5 voucher at Schuh
– Send your used, worn out Rapanui clothing back to them, for them to be recycled and turned into new clothing, you’ll also receive a coupon off your next order.
– Donate your old clothes through the reGAIN app and you could get a voucher off new clothes, your clothes will also help make money for charity.
FURNITURE
– IKEA good resell-able condition, IKEA buy back, they will buy it back for store credit.
ELECTRONICS
– Currys recycling scheme – Receive at least a £5 voucher off a minimum £25 spend for trading in old tech.
INK CARTRIDGES
– The Recycling Factory will pay you for your eligible old inkjet cartridges.
BICYCLES
– Halfords offer up to £250 as a gift card if you trade in your old manual, less than 5 year old eligible bicycle.
FOOD & DRINK
– Save 50p with your reusable cup at Starbucks, Pret and Greggs.
– Get a free drink at Costa when you use a reusable cup 4 times.
CARRIER BAGS
– Ocado can pay you 10p per every Ocado branded bag returned, they will take any plastic bags but only pay for the return of the Ocado bags.
EMPTY TINS/CANS
– You can get loyalty points or a transfer for old aluminium cans/tins, check the Think Cans website.
Charity
Most charity shops will take most items depending on whether it is a furniture store, bookstore or shop.
Please check if there are any items that aren’t taking and arrange a drop off time and drop to a member of staff/volunteer, do not leave them on their step or doorway.
Ink cartridges can be recycled for charity £2 per cartridge. Recycle for charity website.
Recycle your used postage stamps for charity.
Recycle your old milk bottle plastic tops for charity.
Smalls for All collect brand new pants and new or gently worn bras for charity.
Against Breast Cancer collects bras to help raise vital funds for cancer research.
You can give your used bikes to The Bike Project.
Trade in / Recycling shops/sites
Don’t forget to trade items in! Trading your old mobile phone to a phone provider, they can often give you money off your new one.
WeBuyBooks
CeX
Ziffit
GameXchange
Music Magpie
Money Magpie
Mazuma
GAME
Amazon’s Trade in programme.
No benefits to you but helps others and the planet to recycle
Before you recycle anything, check that local schools or churches can’t make use of them, they often get rewarded for certain amount of crisp packets recycled, milk bottle tops, they can even use your old magazines and other products!
Supermarkets often have bins for items that are difficult to recycle at home. Look out for recycling bins for old batteries, plastic bags, crisp packets, clothes and more.
You can drop your packaging that you struggle to recycle to Terra Cycle for free – make-up containers, cheese wrappers, coffee pods and more.
Spectacles and contact lenses, some opticians accept these for recycling.
Check your local shoe shops for recycling boxes, you can often recycle your old shoes in-stores, such as Clarks and Runners Need.
Young Planet app, you can recycle old toys and baby items for free to other parents.
Recycling centres in Oxfordshire
Ardley Fields household waste recycling centre, Brackley Road, Ardley, OX27 7PH – 28 min (24.4 mi) from Thame,
Dix Pit household waste recycling centre, Linch Hill, Stanton Harcourt, OX29 5BB (Sat nav use OX29 5UX) – 41 min (23.6 mi) from Thame,
Drayton household waste recycling centre, Steventon Road, Drayton, Near Abingdon, OX14 4LA – 38 min (19.9 mi) from Thame,
Oakley Wood household waste recycling centre, Old Icknield Way, Crowmarsh, Near Wallingford, OX10 6PW – 31 min (14.3 mi) from Thame,
Redbridge household waste recycling centre, Old Abingdon Road, Oxford, OX1 4XG – 31 min (16.4 mi) from Thame,
Stanford in the Vale household waste recycling centre, Faringdon Road, Stanford in the Vale, Faringdon, SN7 8LD – 50 min (41.2 mi) from Thame.
Oxfordshire resident’s waste and recycling tool – Waste Wizard is very useful and the Recycle Now tool – Local recycling locator.
See Laura’s post that includes more information about using the Waste Wizard.
Waste Wizard Online Tool helps us make Greener Waste Decisions
