Recycling and reducing waste can help protect the environment and save you money.
Start by choosing one change this week, such as using a refill shop, borrowing an item from Share Bedford, or starting to compost at home.
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Find some really useful ideas on recycling, reducing and reusing on the Recycle Now website.
Reduce your waste
Simple changes can help cut down what goes in your bins:
- Buy items with less packaging, such as loose fruit and vegetables or refillable products.
- Choose reusable items like cloth shopping bags and rechargeable batteries.
- Stop unwanted post by registering on the Mail Preference Service website.
Love Food Hate Waste
We support the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which helps you save money and reduce food waste through things like meal planning and using leftovers.
Visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for practical tips, recipes and advice.
Some quick changes you could try:
- Check your fridge and cupboards before you shop so you only buy what you need.
- Plan your meals for the week and write a shopping list, to avoid overbuying and using food you already have.
- Use up leftovers by turning them into another meal instead of throwing them away.
Save money with real nappies
More than 3 billion disposable nappies are thrown away each year in the UK, costing councils more than £40 million and taking hundreds of years to break down.
Real nappies are reusable, made from natural materials, and can save families up to £500 from birth to potty training.
Follow Bedfordshire Cloth Nappy Library on Facebook for more information.
Refill shops
Refill shops are a great way to reduce waste at home. Instead of buying new packaging each time, you can bring your own containers and top up on items such as pasta, rice, cleaning products and personal care products.
To find a refill shop near you, use the Recycle Now Refill Locator and enter your postcode.
Share, repair and reuse in Bedford Borough
Before throwing something away, see if it can be reused, shared or repaired.
Share Bedford
Share Bedford is a community sharing library where you can borrow useful household items instead of buying them. This is ideal for things you only use occasionally, such as tools, cleaning equipment or DIY kit. It saves money, reduces waste and helps build a more sustainable community.
Repair cafés
Bedford Repair Café can help fix items like small electricals, bikes, clothing and furniture - often at low cost or through volunteer-led sessions. Repairing items keeps them in use for longer and reduces the need to buy new.
Donate items
If you have items that you no longer need, consider giving them a second life:
- Donate furniture or electrical items to local organisations, such as:
- Offer items for free on community platforms, such as:
Clothing, bedding, and shoes can be donated to charity shops or textile banks. Many charities will also accept worn-out textiles for recycling. Please do not put textiles in your orange-lidded recycling bin.
Compost at home
Home composting is an easy way to reduce waste and improve your garden. If you don’t have space to compost at home you can use our food waste collection service. Place your food waste in your outdoor food bin for weekly collection, where it can taken and turned into renewable energy that goes to the National Grid and a liquid fertiliser for local farms.
Getting started
Use a compost bin or create your own using materials like wood or wire mesh. Place it on bare soil in a shaded spot.
What to compost
You can compost:
- fruit and vegetable scraps
- coffee grounds and tea bags
- grass cuttings, leaves and weeds
- egg boxes and cardboard
- clean, shredded paper
A good mix of materials helps air circulate and speeds up composting.
Items such as cooked food, dairy, meat, bones and egg shells are not always suitable for home composting and can be placed in your outdoor food waste bin for a weekly collection.
When it’s ready
Compost is usually ready in nine months to a year. It should be dark, crumbly and soil-like when ready to use.
Find more tips on the Recycle Now website.
Recycling
Recycle your electricals
Electrical and electronic items (anything with a plug, cable or battery) should never be thrown away in your general waste or recycling bin. They are classified as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and can often be reused or recycled. Recycling electricals safely means valuable materials are reused.
Old appliances, small electricals, batteries and chargers can usually be taken to:
- our Household Waste Recycling Centre
- electrical retailers, many of which are required to take back old items when you buy a new one
- special collection points or reuse and recycling schemes
You can find convenient reuse and recycling options near you using the national Recycle Your Electricals website. The site explains what counts as an electrical item and includes a recycling locator to help you find the nearest place to drop them off.
Our recycling services
Try not to put non‑recyclable packaging, food waste or textiles in the wrong bin. When in doubt, check the Recycling Locator on our what goes in each bin webpage
You can also take a wide range of materials to be recycled at our:
