Braintree Recycling Centre

Recycling six tea bags in your food caddy generates enough energy to boil a kettle for another cuppa!

We've partnered with the experts at Garden Organic to provide a free online course for residents to learn about home composting.

Used aluminium drink cans can be recycled and back on supermarket shelves as new drink cans in as little as 60 days.

Around 5.9 billion aluminium drinks cans are recycled in the UK every year. That's enough to circle the world almost 18 times if laid end to end.

Each year, 155,000 tonnes of household electrical waste are discarded, which if recycled could save 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. That's the equivalent to removing 1.3 million cars from the road!

You can donate large electrical appliances at some recycling centres for repair and reuse by the Lighthouse Furniture Project. These are then passed on or sold at affordable prices in the local community.

You can recycle plastic and aluminium coffee pods at recycling centres across Essex thanks to a partnership with Podback.

Asbestos can be found in many places you may not expect, including items such as old ironing boards, boilers and plant pots. It's extremely dangerous and should never be taken to recycling centres.

We have developed some community guidelines which set out what to expect from your visit to our recycling centres.

Almost two thirds of Essex residents report repairing an item in the last three months.

Over 114,000 tonnes of plastic waste is estimated to go in rubbish bins each Christmas. That's the same weight as over three million emperor penguins!