How to recycle tricky common items: batteries, cartons and more

"Recyclable" does not always mean "put it in the recycling bin". UK kerbside schemes are designed around the materials each council's sorting facility can handle; many awkward items need a shop take-back point, a separate council collection or a trip to the household waste recycling centre. Here is the practical route for five items that cause the most confusion.

Batteries: keep them out of every wheelie bin

Loose household batteries — including button cells and rechargeable batteries — should go to a battery collection point. Shops selling a significant quantity of batteries must provide take-back, so look for the small collection tub in supermarkets, DIY shops and electrical retailers. Recycling centres accept them too, and some councils ask residents to place batteries in a clearly marked bag on top of a particular bin.

Never hide batteries inside general waste or mixed recycling. When damaged or crushed in a lorry, lithium batteries can ignite. Tape over the terminals of lithium and button batteries before storing them, keep them away from children, and take a swollen, leaking or hot battery directly to a suitable facility after asking staff how to handle it.

Tetra Paks and drink cartons: check locally

Cartons for milk, juice, soup and passata combine paperboard with thin plastic and sometimes aluminium. Many councils now accept them with mixed recycling, but plenty still do not. Empty, rinse and squash the carton; the plastic cap can normally stay on if your council accepts the whole pack.

If cartons are excluded at home, use a dedicated carton bank at a recycling centre or community bring site. Do not put one in the paper-only bin: its bonded layers need specialist processing, and a plain paper mill cannot treat it like a cereal box.

Crisp packets: supermarket soft-plastic collection

Crisp packets are flexible plastic film, despite their shiny metallic look. They are almost never wanted in kerbside mixed recycling because flat film tangles sorting equipment. Save clean, empty packets for a front-of-store soft-plastics point, now available at many larger supermarkets.

The same points often accept bread bags, cereal liners, plastic carrier bags, frozen-food bags, pet-food pouches and clean film lids, but read the label on the collection unit. If no local take-back exists, crisp packets belong in general waste, not the household recycling bin.

Electricals: anything with a plug, battery or cable

Small electricals contain recoverable metals and must not disappear into a wheelie bin. Some councils collect them in a separate bag or provide street banks; otherwise take them to an electrical retailer or recycling centre. Retailers have take-back responsibilities, although the route can differ depending on the item's size and whether you are buying a replacement.

• Remove loose batteries and recycle them separately where it is safe to do so.
• Delete personal data from phones, tablets and computers, remove SIM and memory cards, and use the device's factory-reset instructions.
• Keep vapes out of both bins. Return them to a vape shop, electrical take-back point or recycling centre that specifically accepts them.

Textiles: reuse first, then textile recycling

Wearable, clean clothes are best donated to a charity shop, sold or passed on. Put them in a sealed bag and follow the shop or bank's rules; never leave bags beside a full donation bank. Worn-out clothes, paired shoes, towels and bedding can often go to a council textile bank or kerbside textile collection, where fibres may be reused as industrial cloth or insulation.

Check before including duvets, pillows, carpets, wet fabric or heavily contaminated items, which many schemes refuse. Retailer take-back schemes are another option, but acceptance varies. The key rule across all five categories is to use your council's current recycling directory when the packaging label and the kerbside rules disagree.

Once the tricky items are heading to the right place, use our free bin-day checker and reminders so the ordinary rubbish and recycling go out on the right night too.