To most of us, recycling means throwing paper, bottles and cans into boxes outside the back door, ready for the doorstep collection.

Bradford Council has made recycling easy, helping to reduce the amount of household waste sent to landfill. For a range of other products, including cookers, printer cartridges and oil, the district's Household Waste Recycling Centres offer a facility to drop off items to be recycled.

Across the district, schemes also exist which re-use items such as car tyres, furniture, clothing, paint, computers and a host of other goods.

In Bradford, one paint recycling organisation has been so successful it is now looking to expand. In its seventh year, Manningham-based Community RePaint has saved more than 150,000 litres of paint from being sent to landfill.

The project is part of a national network that collects unwanted paint and redistributes it to community and voluntary organisations as well as individuals in need.

Last year, almost 19,000 litres was collected. "That is an average of what we now collect every year," says project co-ordinator Karen Hutchinson. "It is normal domestic paint - emulsion, satin wood, gloss, shed and fence paint, masonry paint and varnishes. All products that people use for the house and garden."

Paint which is either new or part-used, is collected from every household waste site across Bradford district and from two in Wakefield. It is also collected from local retailers. It then goes through a rigorous sorting process to ensure it is suitable to be used, before being redistributed to local community groups, charities and individuals for redecoration jobs.

The project runs a membership scheme, with members from a range of organisations including sports clubs, schools, religious groups, arts groups and housing projects.

In Keighley, unwanted good as new' furniture is given a new home through a project which gives people on benefits the chance to get hold of tables, chairs, beds, wardrobes and other household items such as carpets, light fittings and cutlery at very low cost.

At Keighley Furniture Project, in Oakworth Road, goods are inspected, and only accepted by if they are in a decent condition. "There is a small delivery charge, and we ask for a donation," says project manager Ann Sherriff.

The project originally occupied a small area in a local mill - a building they now own thanks to a grant from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and European Development Fund. "We had a very good, sympathetic landlord, Stephen Johns, who let it to us at a very reasonable price until we had the funds to buy it," explains Ann. "He was very much in favour of recycling and re-use and very pleased that the mill was going to be used for that purpose and by a community organisation.

"Our ethos is recycle and reuse'. Through the project, we can help others and help the environment."

For many years, people have been recycling clothing, children's toys and other household goods through donations to charity shops. Specialist clothing recyclers also provide a valuable service. At Randisi Textile Recycling, off Leeds Road, Bradford, clothing is sorted for destinations including Africa, Eastern Europe and Pakistan.

"It is all good quality," says company boss Guiseppe Randisi. "Light clothes go to countries in Africa, heavier, warmer ones to Eastern Europe and Russia. Clothing is sorted for suitability. Western-style clothing is not suitable to send to Pakistan and some styles, such as long-sleeved tops, would not be worn in hot African countries."

Clothing is collected from eight Bradford Council clothes banks, based at waste sites across the district, and about 30 charity shops, with between 300 and 500kg of clothing coming from each. Cotton items left over after sorting are sold to a firm which cuts them into industrial wiping cloths for the motor industry. Remainders are also used for flock - very short-cut material used to produce a velvet-like coating on cloth, rubber, film or paper. Wool-based items that remain at the warehouse are also sold as flock.

Increasingly, we are reluctant to throw anything away and are becoming more enthusiastic about re-using products. Now it is becoming easier to do both and help the environment in the process.

  • For more details on the Council's Household Waste Recycling Centres, or for a copy for the Council's A-Z of Recycling, ring (01274) 438883. To find out more about donating unwanted paint or about how to get hold of paint contact Karen Hutchinson at Community RePaint on (01274) 737267, e-mail bradrepaint1@tiscali.co.uk or go to communityrepaint.org. For Keighley Furniture Project ring (01535) 601999 or e-mail anne-sheriff@btconnect.com. To donate clothing or find out more about Randisi Textile Recycling call (01274) 309111.