Wood is excellent for recycling. It is split into 'clean wood' and 'contaminated wood' for recycling and reuse.

Wood is recycled as much as possible. In doing so, we take three categories into account:

• untreated wood
  This is clean wood and is highly recycled.
• treated wood
  This is wood of slightly lower quality and is used to make pallets or for co-firing in power plants.
• impregnated wood
  This is contaminated wood and contains substances that can be harmful to the environment. Therefore, this wood is not recycled but burnt in waste-to-energy plants.

You can offer wood at one of the environmental centres.

What belongs where?

Frying fat, cooking oil and oily gravy can be recycled if you return them separately.

You can offer leftover frying fat and cooking oil to the managers of one of the environmental centres Or at the Kringlooplein New Lekkerland. Some supermarkets, DIY stores, thrift shops and (sports) clubs also have a special collection bin for frying fat and cooking oil.

What belongs where?

Tips for returning frying fat and cooking oil

• Let the frying fat, cooking oil or oily gravy cool first.
• Pour it back into the original container or another sealable container, such as a milk carton or plastic bottle with a screw cap.
• Close the packaging tightly.
• Deliver the frying fat with packaging and all to one of the environmental centres.

Note:

• You should not put deep-frying fat in a frying pan you want to dispose of. The reason is that the grease runs out of the pan during transport. And it contaminates the other discarded electrical equipment in the container; this is unhygienic and unsafe (slip hazard) for the recycling worker. It also complicates the recycling of the equipment.
• Do not flush oil and fats down the sink, they will clog your drains and sewers.
• Lubricating oil and grease are small chemical waste (kca). Deliver it to the environmental street.

Reuse

Frying fat and cooking oil are recycled. They are raw materials for producing biofuel or biodiesel. Biofuels cause fewer emissions of CO₂ and particulate matter than fuels made from mineral oils. The fat and oil are given a second life, they are not incinerated with residual waste. This is good for the environment. Help out and deliver fats and oil separately.

> Find out more about the recycling process and find collection points at Frituurvetrecyclehet.nl

All discarded appliances that run on electricity (plug, battery or battery) and energy-efficient light bulbs can be handed in for recycling or reuse. Also known as e-waste.

If you buy a new electrical or electronic appliance, you can return the old appliance (e-waste) to the shop of purchase free of charge. At many shops you can return small discarded electrical devices hand in, without having to buy a new product. The shop will take care of recycling the device.

You can also offer your discarded equipment at one of the environmental centres. This applies to household appliances, not appliances from businesses. Apart from appliances, you can also return lamps and consumer luminaires for recycling. These include desk lamp, floor lamp and pendant lamp.

You can repair broken electrical appliances (or have them repaired) by a repair café. If the product is still under warranty, you can have it repaired by or through the supplier. Many devices, such as computers, tablets and phones, but also lamps, for example, still have market value. You can sell them. Or perhaps give them away to a charity shop. Ask the charity shop about the possibilities. You can only deliver e-waste with packaging if this is desirable from a safety point of view. For example, light bulbs in their original packaging.

What falls under e-waste?

• Electric tools
• Televisions, radios and headsets
• Small household and kitchen appliances (such as a hairdryer, curling iron, toaster and coffee maker)
• Computers, faxes, printers and copiers
• Phones
• Refrigerators
• Washers and dryers
• Tools (such as a drill, sander, electric screwdriver and electric gardening tools)
• Toys, games and sports equipment (such as a rowing machine, exercise bike and remote-controlled car)
• Medical equipment (such as an electronic thermometer)
• Measuring and monitoring devices (such as a thermostat and smoke detector)
• Energy-saving and LED lamps and luminaires
• E-cigarettes and vapes

What does not fall under e-waste?

• Separate batteries
• Loose batteries
• Appliances with fuel in them (such as a lawnmower or chainsaw with fuel engine)
• Chemical waste (such as oil residues, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, paint cans, paint sprayers and paint tubes)
• Light bulbs. These belong to the residual waste)
• Fluorescent lamps and energy-saving bulbs. These belong to the small chemical waste.
• Non-electr(on)isic equipment (such as bulky waste, empty gas bottles and paint cans). You can hand these in at the environmental street, but not in the e-waste container)

Return for recycling

Handing in discarded appliances, lamps and luminaires for recycling is good for reusing raw materials. And it prevents them from ending up in landfills. Therefore, do not throw them away but hand them in. Special companies sort and dismantle discarded appliances. Then products and valuable materials (raw materials) are reused. And waste products are processed in an environmentally responsible way.

Please deliver neatly

Make sure there are no added liquids or fats left in the appliance. For example, supply a deep fryer without oil or fat residues. Deep-frying fat, cooking oil and oil residues you can visit one of our environmental centres hand in. And make sure no food is left in a fridge or freezer when you hand it in. This way, you help ensure that the employees of the sorting and dismantling companies can work safely. And you contribute to an efficient recycling process. As little interference as possible will then have to be removed from collected e-waste. Thank you for your cooperation!

Paper (and cardboard) is collected separately from residual waste. It is recycled as a secondary raw material for the production of new paper and cardboard. Waste paper is new paper. For a successful recycling process, it is important that waste paper and cardboard is clean and dry, and free of plastic and other contamination. 

You can offer paper and cardboard in a container or at any of the environmental centres. > View your personal waste calendar

What belongs where?

You can recognise paper and cardboard that belong in the paper container by the recycling logo. This logo can be found on many paper and cardboard products.

Collection is recycling

All the separately collected waste paper goes through scrap paper companies to paper mills. They use it directly as a secondary raw material in their production process. Collection is recycling: 86% of graphic paper and 88% of paper/cardboard packaging is recycled. Nothing is incinerated or landfilled. Because then we would lose it forever. So old paper and cardboard is a valuable raw material, well worth collecting separately.

Want to know more about paper recycling and sustainability?
Go to Paper Circular or Paperboard.co.uk. 

Small chemical waste (MSW) is waste containing substances that are hazardous to health and the environment. This includes chemicals that are toxic, flammable or otherwise harmful. 

You can offer kca at one of the environmental centres. You can also take kca to the Kringlooplein bring in New Lekkerland.

What belongs where?

Offer conditions and tips kca

• Hand over your kca to the manager of the environmental street.
• Jars or other containers should be closed and have a sticker indicating which substance is in the jar.
• You can sometimes drop off old or surplus medicines at a pharmacy. Check with your own pharmacy.
• You can return batteries to all shops and companies that sell (products containing) batteries.
• Energy-saving bulbs, LED bulbs and fluorescent tubes can be handed in at the recycling centre and in special containers at various shops (such as supermarkets and DIY stores).

Vegetable, fruit, garden and food waste (GFT) is, for example, peelings and bones (food waste), pruning waste and spent flowers. Much of our waste is VGF waste. VGF waste is excellent for recycling.

You can offer GFT in a container or at any of the environmental centres.

> View your personal waste calendar.

What belongs where?

For convenience, we list the separation rules, categorised by: kitchen waste, fine garden waste, animals and waste separation tools.

Bioplastic should not be added to kitchen and garden waste

Plastic does not belong with the kitchen and garden waste. It contaminates the compost and should therefore be removed from the VGF waste before the composting process. Also, bags made of bioplastic do not belong in the kitchen and garden waste container, as they take too long to break down and compost. Bioplastic is plastic made from vegetable waste instead of petroleum or gas. Only special, compostable VGF bags with the Kiemplant logo or OK-Compost logo are allowed with VGF waste, as they are a convenient tool for separating VGF waste. These are available at various shops and supermarkets.
Want to know more? Then go to the website of Milieu Centraal.

Tips for a fresh GFT container

This will prevent your GFT container from stinking or having maggots (fly larvae) in it.

• Put the container in a cool place out of the sun.
• Do not throw damp waste into the container.
• Let cut grass dry for a day and drain damp food residues first.
• Pack quickly decaying and smelly food leftovers such as meat and fish in a newspaper.
• Clean the container regularly with water and possibly green soap. Do not use chlorine as this is harmful to the environment.
• Put an old newspaper or a layer of dry GFT waste at the bottom. You can also use special compostable or paper GFT bags. You can buy these in the supermarket. This makes emptying the container easier.
• Make sure the GFT container is empty (and clean) when you go on holiday. This is immediately a good time to air the container.

Tips for your GFT container when it freezes

In case of frost, the GFT waste may freeze in your container. As a result, it cannot be emptied. We would like to give you tips to help prevent this.

• Place your container in the lee of your home.
• Put your container in a frost-free place during the frost period, such as in a storage room or garage.
• Put newspaper at the bottom of the container or use a special compostable paper GFT bag. You can buy these in the supermarket. This makes emptying the container easier.
• Do not use salt to prevent freezing. Salt contaminates the GFT waste.

Reuse: compost and green gas

If you keep GFT separated from residual waste, it is recycled into things like compost and biogas (green gas). Compost is a soil improver in the garden or on the land. Green gas is an alternative to natural gas. VGF put in the residual waste is burnt with the residual waste and not recycled, this VGF is lost forever.

All glass bottles and jars from the glass containers are recycled.

We collect glass packaging separately from residual waste. This way, they can be recycled. You can take them to a bottle bank. There is always one in your neighbourhood, for example in the neighbourhood or at the shopping centre. In the glass container may (glass) jars and bottles that have contained food, drinks or cosmetics. Make sure the packaging is empty. Lids and caps can be left on. Other small types of glass include under residual waste. You can offer large pieces of glass to one of the environmental centres.

Bottles and jars that are allowed in the bottle bank can be recognised by the bottle bank logo on the label.

Glass that you do not put in the bottle bank, but throw in the residual waste, is not recycled but incinerated with the residual waste. This glass is lost forever. In the Netherlands, we already recycle 86% of all glass packaging. Our country leads the world in glass recycling.

What belongs where?

For convenience, we list the separation rules of packaging glass.

Glass in the glass container is recycling

Glass can be endlessly and 100% recycled. Cullet is made into new glass bottles and jars. This can be done infinitely many times. Because once glass is made, it always remains glass and retains its good quality.

The cycle of glass

The cycle works as follows. We collect the glass from the glass containers with a collection car. The white (colourless) glass goes into one compartment of the car, and the other colours (green, brown) into another. This keeps the glass separated by colour. Exactly as you put it in the glass container. The collection vehicle transports the glass to the specialised glass recycling company.

At this company, the glass goes through an entire route past sophisticated separators. Contaminants such as lids, heat-resistant glass, ceramics, stone and porcelain are removed from the glass. You help enormously in an efficient recycling process if you only put packaging glass in the glass container and no waste. After the food waste is removed from the cullet, the clean cullet goes to glass factories as raw material. The glass factory melts the cullet and turns it into new bottles and jars. The bottles and jars go to the food industry. These pack products in them, which you buy. After use, you put the bottles and jars back in the glass container. Then the whole recycling process starts all over again.

21 kilograms of glass per person, 430 million kilograms in total

Thanks to this cycle, every shard of glass from the bottle bank stays in the glass packaging chain. In our country, 86% of the glass entering the market is collected for recycling. This is an average of 21 kilos per person, 430 million kilos of glass in total - every year. Recycling glass saves glassworks primary raw materials (sand, soda, lime) for glass production: 1 tonne of cullet saves 1.2 tonnes of sand and other raw materials. And they save 2.5% energy, and therefore CO2 emissions, with every 10% use of cullet. 1 tonne of cullet saves 0.6 tonnes of CO₂-emissions in the chain.

Want to know more? Watch the video on the glass cycle

Rubble (construction and demolition waste) consists mainly of stony materials, wood, metal and plastic. Rubble is created when you build or renovate. When collecting rubble, we distinguish between clean rubble and contaminated rubble.

You can offer debris at one of the environmental centres. 

What belongs where?

Reuse

Clean rubble is sieved and reused in civil engineering. For example, as paving material under road surfaces and in noise barriers and in the production of concrete and asphalt. Contaminated debris is cleaned first. Then it can still be reused. Materials such as wood and metal are recycled. New products made of wood and metal are made from them.