Good Podcasts on Rubbish, Recycling and Sustainability

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

Talking Rubbish - a weekly podcast that unpacks the complexities of recycling, whilst having a lot of fun. Hosted by Hosted by James Piper, author of The Rubbish Book and Robbie Staniforth, Policy Director at a leading environmental consultancy.

If you are obsessed with rubbish as much as we are – this is for you. What happens with the waste in skips? Is recycled plastic worse for human health than virgin plastic? Do we really only recycle 9% of plastic? Does plastic cause heart disease? If you want to know the answers to these questions – dive in!

Every single episode is a gem and is genuinely fun!

Sliced Bread - a BBC podcast. Together with experts, the podcast host Greg Foot investigates the so-called wonder products making bold claims. Are they the best thing since sliced bread, or marketing BS?

We were particularly interested in these episodes focusing on the eco/sustainable products:

• Bedding - Can changing your sheets be good for you - and the environment?

• Christmas Trees – which Christmas tree is better for the environment - real or fake?

• Chopping Boards – Which chopping board material is best for hygiene and the planet?

• Cleaning sprays - Do we really need all those cleaning sprays?

• Eco-friendly Toilet Paper - How green can your loo roll be? Lots of companies have sprung up offering what they say are the most eco-friendly ways to wipe - and there's a lot to think about.

• Laundry Products – are EcoEggs, Laudr sheets and microfibre capturing better for the planet?

• Reusable Nappies – are they really better for the planet, and your pocket?

• Sustainable Period Products – What are the lost eco0friendly period products?

  
  

Buried - a 10-part series from BBC Radio 4 investigating the secret dumping of an estimated million tonnes of waste – some of it now highly toxic – near a drinking water supply in Northern Ireland, has revealed officials may have broken the law in their handling of it. Utterly shocking!

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 • 341KB

– 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.

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.

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. 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). Southside Centre no longer accepts coffee cups. With no plans to re-introduce the collection.

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 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.

Shoes – The Village Cobbler Southfields (SW18 5LR).

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)