Recycle More Southfields Resources

Welcome to the resources page of Recycle More Southfields Website!

We help local residents recycle better. Here is how.

Recycle hard-to-recycle items with us:

Recycle More Southfields Flyer with our collection schedule and what we collect each week.

Download Recycle More Southfields flyer here:

RMS Flyer P1 PDF Dec 2025.pdf

Download PDF • 347KB

and

RMS Flyer P2 PDF Dec 2025.pdf

Download PDF • 363KB

Download Recycle More Southfields' Detailed List of Accepted Items in each category here:

RMS List of Accepted Items - December 2025.pdf

Download PDF • 336KB

– see in detail what we accept.

Where Can I Recycle This?

A list of other popular items that can be recycled locally.

Council Recycling:

Wandsworth kerbside recycling - Accepted items - a detailed list. Please note that from 31 March 2026 Wandsworth Council (only) will also collect from kerbside: - Plastic tubes and lids (such as toothpaste, conditioners, hand and face cream) - Aluminium tubes (such as tomato paste, toothpaste and creams in aluminium tubes).

Wandsworth Recycling Residents-Leaflet.pdf

Download PDF • 48KB

Merton kerbside recycling - a detailed list.

What happens to your recycling and waste?

Wandsworth residents video from WRWA: What happens to your recycling and waste?

Wandsworth schools video from WRWA: What happens to your recycling and waste?

Merton residents videos on food, plastics, paper and all other recycling and waste.

Good Recycling and Sustainability Podcasts:

Here are some of our favourite podcasts that deal with waste, recycling and sustainability.

Thank you for wanting to cut your waste and doing your bit for the environment!!!

Where Can I Recycle This?

This is a quick guide on recycling harder-to-recycle items in the Southfields and Wimbledon Park Grid area.

Before you try to recycle an item – see if it works / in good condition. If it is - try to give it away on the Olio app. Olio also accepts opened items – such as opened shampoos or creams. If it's faulty - see if you can fix it at the regular Southfields Mend, Fix and Repair Cafe, which takes place at St Barnabas Church around 4 times a year.

Then check what your local waste and recycling centres accept: Wandsworth - Western Riverside Waste Authority - (aka Smugglers Way tip - SW18 1JS), Merton - Garth Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre (SM4 4AX)

Kerbside recycling: check what is accepted at kerbside Wandsworth Council Website and Merton Council Website. Please note that from 31 March 2026 Wandsworth Council will also collect: plastic tubes and lids (toothpaste, conditioner, hand and face cream) and aluminium tubes and lids (tomato paste, toothpaste and creams in aluminium tubes). Merton doesn't accept these items.

See a separate list of what we collect weekly at Recycle More Southfields. We specialise in hard-to-recycle items and have a weekly schedule of the items we collect at two collection points on Sutherland Grove and on Trentham St.

Below is a list of other places you can recycle your harder-to-recycle items.

Popular Items: Where can I recycle these?

Beauty packaging – all bottles – can go to Merton and Wandsworth kerbside recycling. Plastic tubes (conditioner, hand and face cream etc) - Wandsworth (only) kerbside recycling. Tubes and jars – Recycle More Southfields (Week 3 collection), Boots Wimbledon Quarter (SW19 8YE), Boots Putney High Street (SW15 1SS).

Batteries – pretty much everywhere including Boots Southfields (SW18 5LT), Co-op Wimbledon Park (SW19 8AE), Sainsbury’s Durnsford Rd (SW19 8DZ), Sainsbury’s Wandsworth (SW18 4AD), Sainsbury’s Wimbledon (SW19 4DD).

Bedding – Including pillows and duvets. Dunelm Store (SW19 2PP)

Coffee cups (single use) – Wylie’s Coffee – only their own cups (SW18 5LR). Some other coffee shops such as Costa Cafe also collect any brands of coffee cups - but please check with them individually.

Coffee pods - check if your brand can be recycled either by collection or a drop off through Podback.

Contact lenses – Recycle More Southfields (Week 1 collection), Specsavers Southside (SW18 4TQ).

Dental – toothpaste tubes can be recycled in Wandsworth only at kerbside. Also at Boots Wimbledon Quarter (SW19 8YE), Boots Putney High Street (SW15 1SS).  Everything else (including toothpaste tubes, manual plastic toothbrushes and plastic toothbrush heads, interdental, floss packaging) is accepted by Recycle More Southfields (Week 1 collection).   

Fridges and freezers– and other white goods – If they work – donate them to charity. If faulty: Wandsworth residents can book two free bulky items collections a year, which include all white goods (apart from American fridge-freezers and side-by-side fridges). Merton residents can book a paid for bulky items collection, including white goods. It is important to dispose fridges and freezers properly – because they release harmful ozone-depleting refrigerants and toxic chemicals into the atmosphere when thrown away.

Glasses (spectacles) - Specsavers Southside (SW18 4TQ), Garth Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre – Merton (SM4 4AX), Western Riverside Waste Authority - Wandsworth (Smugglers Way tip - SW18 1JS), Wheeler and Kirk Opticians (SW18 5LT)

Hard plastics – such as garden tables and chairs, washing up bowls, plastic toys with no electrical components, etc - Western Riverside Waste Authority – Wandsworth (Smugglers Way tip - SW18 1JS).

Hazardous waste– such as paints, solvents (white spirit, petrol, diesel, antifreeze), acids, pesticides, alkalis (i.e. Bleach, Hydroxide Solutions, Ammonia), old rat poison – see the full list here. Hazardous waste is collected free of charge from the residents and businesses of both Wandsworth and Merton boroughs by the City of London Hazardous Waste Collection. You will need to have your Council Tax number and fill a simple form to book a free pick up. All information and an online booking form are here.

Inhalers – most pharmacies will accept them.

Light Bulbs - B&Q - New Malden (KT3 4PT), Currys - Colliers Wood (SW19 2PP), Garth Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre – Merton (SM4 4AX), Western Riverside Waste Authority - Wandsworth (Smugglers Way tip - SW18 1JS).

Make up packaging - Recycle More Southfields (Week 3 collection), Boots Wimbledon Quarter (SW19 8YE), Boots Putney High Street (SW15 1SS).

Medicine blister packs – Recycle More Southfields (Week 1 collection), Boots Southside Centre (SW18 4TG), Boots Putney High Street (SW15 1SS), Superdrug Wimbledon Quarter (SW19 8ND).

Razors – are no longer recycled. Except Bulldog razors. Bulldog razors (own brand only!) can be recycled through Bulldog recycling scheme. https://bulldogskincare.com/pages/first-mile-recycling.

Small electricals – Southfields Library (SW19 6NL) and Earlsfield Library (SW18 3NY) pink boxes, Western Riverside Waste Authority (Smugglers Way tip - SW18 1JS).

Soft plastics – such as crisps and snacks packets, fruit punnet lids, shrink-wrap, bubble wrap, etc -  Co-op Wimbledon Park (SW19 8AE), Sainsbury’s Wandsworth (SW18 4AD), Sainsbury’s Wimbledon (SW19 4DD).

Stationery - Recycle More Southfields (Week 1 collection)

Toothbrushes - Recycle More Southfields (Week 1 collection)

Vaping refills - Sainsbury’s Wandsworth (SW18 4AD)

5 Rules of Sustainable Decluttering

January is a decluttering month for many of us, but getting rid of things sustainably is not as easy as it sounds. Giving items to a charity shop became a go-to way of giving away items we no longer need. But how sustainable is it? And should it be the first stop to give away items?

We spoke to Gwendolyn Aker, an active Recycle More Southfields member and the organiser of Southfields Yard Sale Trail 2025. Gwendolyn works as a sustainable stylist, style coach, and personal shopper; exclusively sourcing items second-hand for their climate conscious client base. With a background in fine art, over a decade in London’s fashion industry, and two decades of thrifting in 14 countries over 4 continents, they know a thing or two about what happens after you hand over that bag of donations at the charity shop.

So, where do you start?

If your aim is to declutter sustainably and create as little waste as possible, rather than support a cause by donating to a relevant charity shop, the best way by far is start with trying to give the unwanted items away directly to the people who will use them.

Start with your immediate circle of family and friends, then try to give things away in your community for example through WhatsApp groups or the Olio app, and then go to specialised charities. For example, lots of people in our community give children’s clothing and equipment to Little Village, working laptops/desktop computers to Little Lives UK, and tinned food / dry food in date and unwanted toiletries to Wandsworth Food Bank.  

Once those avenues are exhausted: a local charity shop is a good option. Here are Gwendolyn’s top five rules of giving to charity shops.   

1.     Only give what can be sold: clean, undamaged items in good condition

Charity shops are there to make money for their cause, not to help us manage our waste. While they have systems to reduce waste, they will only put the things they can sell on their shelves and hangers. A large proportion of items donated to charities are never resold because they are dirty, stained, damaged, or just plain worn out. Unsold items are either sent directly landfill or in the case of textiles sold on to third parties as ‘rag’ which are then often exported by for-profit companies to the Global South where they become “someone else’s problem”, says Gwendolyn.

2.     Give clothes that are in season

Not all charity shops have the capacity or the infrastructure to store clothing that is not ‘in season’. Some charities will collect out of season items semi-regularly from their shops and pay for them to be transported and stored elsewhere. They then redistribute those seasonal items back to their shops for sale when the time is right. All of this adds up in both cost to the charity and to the CO2 emissions! So it’s best to check if the shop accepts ski jackets in June.

3.     Check what the charity shop needs

Before bringing things, check with the charity shop if they take/need those items. Some shops do not take children’s clothing, others – don’t take plus sizes, some shops like books, others – don’t.

Most charity shops won’t take furniture, but one notable exception is the British Heart Foundation’s specialist furniture shops.

4.     Organise your donations

If you are giving away lots of small items, group them together, so they are easier to sort, display and sell. Sort your Christmas baubles by colour or theme and put them in one bag, put Lego or Duplo bricks in bags or storage boxes, etc.

5.     Don’t buy what you don’t need

This should really be the main point: do not free space and then fill it with things you will need to declutter again next year. Choose quality over quantity. That way you avoid having to worry about getting rid of the things later.

If you’d like to learn more about Gwendolyn and the services they offer visit Gwen’s website.