Aluminium Foil
There are a number of aluminium foil banks around the district. For more details click here. Recycling aluminium saves 95% of energy compared to making it from raw materials. You can recycle kitchen foil, milk bottle tops, yoghurt and cream carton tops, baking and freezer trays and foil take-away / ready meal containers.

Batteries
Buy rechargeable batteries, they are much more cost and energy efficient, and help to reduce the amount that go into landfill each year.

You can take household batteries in to Dixon's, Curry's, The Link and PC World, where they have battery recycling bins.  Larger batteries, such as car batteries, can be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) where they are sent away to be broken down and reclaimed.

Carrier bags
There are several things you can do to reduce the amount of plastic bags you collect. You could avoid them altogether by using a canvas bag instead. Also many supermarkets offer a ‘bag for life’ scheme. These bags cost 10p but can be re-used at least 10 times. When they’re worn out they will be replaced free of charge, removing the need to be given extra carrier bags every time you are at the checkout. This way you are reducing the amount of bags that have to be disposed of. Alternatively you can remember to take the ones you already have with you when you go shopping.

Plastic bags can be re-used in the home as pedal-bin liners. This saves you having to buy bags. If you still have too many bags, some supermarkets (Somerfield, Sainsbury and Tesco) are now providing bag recycling facilities on site. They are melted down and turned into low-grade plastic items such as street name plates and plastic benches.

Computers
Whenever donating your used PC to charity, do remember to wipe your hard drive of personal data. Although some charities guarantee to do this for you, this is not the case for all.

Some charity shops will accept used computers. Otherwise, there are several which can be found by doing a simple internet search. A small selection these are:

• www.computersforcharity.org.uk - this charity will accept computers (PCs and Apple Macs) from business and householders up to 4 years old.
• www.donateapc.org.uk - if you only have one or two items
• www.computeraid.org/inddonations.htm - will accept from business or household
  
  Furniture
  Aylesbury’s Furniture Aid has now closed down. Try instead:
  
  Friends of Florence Nightingale Hospice
  The Hospice Shop Furniture Warehouse
  Unit 4, Aylesbury Business Centre
  Chamberlain Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8DY
  Tel: 01296 393963
  Email: ahsfurnit@yahoo.co.uk
  
  Age Concern Furniture Store
  6, Burners Lane, Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK11 3HB
  Tel: 01908 263838
  Web: www.ageconcernmk.org.uk
  
  Vineyard Trust/Church
  Christian charity which supplies furniture, clothes etc. for those in need 01296 424440. Unit 8 Osier Way, Park St Ind Est. HP201EB
  
  Greetings cards
  Collect up your old greetings cards through the year and take them, with your Christmas cards, for recycling at Tesco, W H Smith, TK Maxx and M&S stores. The Woodland Trust charity places collection bins throughout the stores after Christmas. Thanks to public support last year, 93 million cards were collected, which is enough to enable the charity to plant 22,000 trees - or a forest the size of 44 football pitches.
  
  Mobile phones
  When recycling your mobile phone, remember to always remove the SIM card containing your personal data first. There are several schemes around for recycling or reusing your old mobile phone. If you are simply upgrading your handset and the old one works well, consider giving it to a friend to use. In 2008, Bucks County Council will be starting a scheme where unwanted mobiles can be donated to schools, earning that school up to £5 per handset. Alternatively, examples of schemes run are:

• Help the Aged - take to a shop or send to FREEPOST, SHP Solutions, Lancaster with a note saying 'Help the Aged'.
• Marie Curie - send your mobile phones to the address below or call 020 8274 4040 for a freepost envelope.
  Marie Curie Cancer Care
  Greener Solutions
  FREEPOST
  LON17592
  Mitcham
  CR4  3UZ
• Children in Need - send your mobile phone to Freepost Fonebak, Children In Need.
• Oxfam, Scope and British Red Cross also accept mobile phones at their shops.

Oil
Engine oil can be taken for disposal at your local HWRC. Alternatively the Environment Agency has set up an oil care campaign to help oil user's to dispose of oil responsibly. You can call the helpline on 0800 663366 or go to www.oilbankline.org.uk

If you have large quantities of cooking oil for recycling, please call Aylesbury Vale’s Recycling Officer on 01296 585862.

Plasterboard
A lot of plasterboard is thrown away when people modernise their houses. It is not recycled in this area at present, but there are trials taking place by the Waste and Resources Action Program and it may be freely available soon. The gypsum inside the boards can be recycled and reduces the need to mine for more.

Spectacles
• Help the Aged (World in Sight, FREEPOST, LON13109, London, N1 9BR)
• Vision Aid Overseas (via your local Vision Express)
• Return to Dolland and Aitchinson for World in Sight.

Tetra Pak cartons
Unfortunately Tetra Pak cartons are currently not collected for recycling in this area.The simplest solution is to try and buy your drinks in glass or plastic containers, both of which can easily be recycled. If you can’t do that and you are very keen to recycle these items, you can parcel them up in a cardboard box, get labels from the Tetra Pak website below and send them at your own postal expense to:

Recycling - Tetra Pak
c/o Perrys Recycling
Showground Road
Bridgwater
Somerset
TA6 6AJ

Tetra Pak requires a very specialist reprocessing method. This is because they are lined with layers of plastic and sometimes foil. In fact, these particular containers are a very difficult material to recycle at all. There are currently no reprocessing facilities in the UK which have the capability to recycle this sort of mixed material.

Some local authorities have received funding from Tetra Pak Ltd to collect tetra pak via their bring sites. The cartons are baled centrally and shipped to Norway for reprocessing. AVDC is sceptical of the environmental benefits of this kind of service, as it is questionable whether it is sustainable to transport these containers for recycling from England to Europe.

Vending cups
In Aylesbury Vale, vending cups used in the home can be recycled in your normal household plastics recycling. Alternatively if you are a business, you can join the non-profit Save-A-Cup scheme http://www.saveacup.co.uk which operates a free collection service to companies. It then recycles the cups into pens, rulers, key rings and other products.

Water filters 
Brita water have set up a recycling bin network across the country.  Most Argos and Tesco have bins for the filters, for full details click here to visit their website.

Wood
Untreated wood will be chipped and recycled at the household waste and recycling centre. Alternatively to recycle wood locally, contact Risborough Wood Recycling Ltd, Little Farm, Lea Road, Princes Risborough, HP27 9NU, or call 07966 456114. simonlaneis@hotmail.co.uk

Date Updated: 26/09/08