Recycling

Bra recycling provides money to local breast cancer charities and provides women in the developing world with garments they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Bra banks are avaliable at -

• Sainsbury’s, Castle Vale Retail Park, Chester Road, Castle Vale, Birmingham, B35 6HB
• Sainsbury’s, 1059-1061 Alcester Road South, Maypole, Birmingham, B14 5TN
• Sainsbury’s, Frankley Beeches Road, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 5AA
• Tesco, Ridgeacre Road, Quinton, Birmingham, B32 1EG
• Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre, Alcester Road South, Kings Heath, B14 6ER
• Tesco, Coleshill Road, Hodge Hill, Birmingham, B36 8DT
• Sainsbury’s, 1 Chapel Lane, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6SJ
• Lidl, 33 Kings Road, Sutton Coldfield, B73 5AB
• Silver Street Pay & Display car park, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7QU
• Four Oaks railway station car park, Off Lichfield Road, (A5127), Four Oaks, Birmingham, B74 2TD
• Tesco, 278-299 Aston Lane, Witton, Birmingham, B5 5QR.

Call 0121 303 1112 and arrangements will be made to send you the relevant boxes and leaflets.

Some flats already have recycling collections. However, because all flats are different, it can be complicated to arrange this. We are currently introducing recycling collections to flats across the whole city and hope to have as many suitable blocks on board this year.

If you have a management or residents’ committee and the majority of residents would like the service, we can consider arranging it for you.

Just email us at recycling@birmingham.gov.uk and we'll arrange a visit to consider if we can introduce recycling collections.

In 2007/08 our target was to recycle 23% and we managed 26%. This was an increase of 8% on the previous year.

However, as a city we need to recycle 35% of our waste by 2012, so we all need to do a lot more!

The Household Recycling Centres have a dedicated box for household batteries. Alternatively shops such as Currys and PC World will take them back. By early 2010 all shops that supply household batteries will be required by law to provide a recycling point.

The paper and card goes to the Smurfit Kappa mill at Nechells and is made into cardboard boxes. The glass/cans/plastic bottles currently go to a plant in Four Ashes, Wolverhampton. There are very few Material Recycling Facilities (MRF) that sort by machine, but it means we can take mixed materials without sorting them at the kerbside, which is costly and time consuming. The garden waste goes to composting facilities near the city and is composted on a large scale to be used for agricultural and landscaping purposes. This is why we cannot take anything in the green sacks that isn't compostable and why we cannot use biodegradable sacks due to the potential littering shredded up sacks could cause.

A 40 litre bag of Care Compost made by composting green garden waste collected in Birmingham and the West Midlands can be purchased from Gravelly Lane Garden Centre, Erdington B23 6UJ (0121 448 0776)

Presently we don't have any plans to change the way we collect your domestic refuse.

No, bags are easier for some people and boxes are easier for others. Also the bags can be used instead of a green box (if you are on the scheme) if that is easier. Crews have been told to empty bags if they contain glass, cans and plastic bottles.

No, they need to be on the edge of the property near the road so that the crews can see them.

These are delivered every 6 months. If you run out you can use ordinary green garden sacks you can buy from a DIY shop or supermarket. Please remember to leave your sacks open so that the crews can see inside them.

Glass, paper and cans can be taken to your nearest Local Recycling Centre or Household Recycling Centre or hold onto it for another two weeks until your next collection.

Yes, you can put it in another box or just bundle up the newspapers together to avoid them blowing around. Do not put plastic/cans/glass loose next to the recycling box, please put them in a bag or another box.

So that the crews can see inside and make sure everything that is in there is compostable.

No, because the first thing that happens to the paper at the mill is that it is put into a big vat of water to start the process.

Because they are a different type of plastic to the bottles and cannot be recycled at present. There are many different types of plastics and they don't all melt down at the same temperature. Plastic tubs often still have residues of food on them which can contaminate the process.

In 2008/09 we recycled and composted 30% of our waste, a figure that has doubled from 2004/05 when we recycled just 14.95% of our waste. However, we need as a city to recycle 34% of our waste by 2012, so there is more that needs to be done.

Birmingham is one of the few authorities that landfills less than it recycles. Most local authorities landfill around 65%. We use an Energy from Waste plant at Tyseley and this converts the energy from burning waste into electricity.

To avoid attracting animals, particularly if you store your box outside.

Flattened bottles and cans take up less space in your box and also the recycling truck. Plastic bottles take up huge amounts of space. The best way to squash them is to squeeze them and then put the lids back on to keep them in shape.

At the moment there are only banks at the five Household Recycling Centres.

Yes. As the winters are getting milder and there are still lots of garden waste requiring picking up, it has been decided to continue the service on a fortnightly basis.

All the Council refuse and recycling vehicles are similar in appearance (i.e. large compaction vehicles), so it is being used as a recycling truck.

You can use the Report Bag / Container Problems button on the Refuse Collection page and we will arrange for a replacement to be sent out to you.

No, we can deliver replacement boxes free of charge.