recycle and repurpose a wide range of materials

Cornwall Council/Biffa

Household Waste and Recycling Kerbside Service

As of March 2025 Cornwall Council/Biffa has introduced a county-wide fortnightly rubbish and recycling service, and a weekly food waste collection service. For full details visit
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/rubbish-recycling-and-waste/new-food-waste-recycling-and-rubbish-service/
These changes will encourage residents to waste less and recycle more, and will significantly cut Cornwall’s annual carbon emissions

Cornwall Council/Suez

Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs)

Cornwall Council/Suez run a comprehensive reuse and recycling service for householders at local HWRCs. Check the full list of items which can be recycled by visiting following links for Falmouth/Penryn area or Truro area. If in doubt over items that can be accepted at an HWRC you can also give Suez a call on 01726 828230

Destinations of Materials collected for recycling from the kerbside and/or deposited at HWRCs can be found here

Both the above Centres have new Kernow Reuse Shops where household items can be brought for repurposing. This link gives an insight into the new Circular Economy strategy now adopted by Suez. Funds raised from the resale of goods will be used to open new shops at other Cornwall Waste and Recycling Centres. Once the roll-out is complete the money will go into a Community Fund.

Cornwall Council’s A-Z Guide
This Guide is a useful resource where you can find out what you can recycle and where:
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/rubbish-recycling-and-waste/recycling/recycling-a-z/

Cornwall Cullet

is a locally-based waste/recycling company specialising in glass recovery and recycling  https://www.cornwallcullet.co.uk/

Odyssey Innovation Ltd (Newquay)

Recycling marine plastic waste represents 80% of Odyssey’s business. They offer collection services with over 8 different drop-off points across the South of England, and also have partnered up with Exeter City Council’s MRF (Materials Recycling Facility) to process collected rigid plastics, ropes, bottle tops and other material from their Marine and Net Regeneration Schemes.

Odyssey is the only large scale Marine Plastic Litter Recycling company in the UK, repurposing a minimum of 100 tons a year of this material into new products. See also their entry under Plastic Waste and their website for more information about their enterprise

Olleco

Olleco also collects cooking oil for recycling. Nearest depot is in Redruth.
https://www.olleco.co.uk

Recycle Now

https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-locator

Truro Recycling Centre : (Newham, Truro)

As the first and only licensed boat breakers in Cornwall, TRC are specialists in scrap metal collections and boat-breaking/dismantling. Always looking to find new and better ways to give a second life to valuable material and equipment going to waste in unused boats.

https://www.trurorecycling.co.uk/services

The impact of abandoned boats on the marine environment is of much concern. For a list of other useful resources visit https://wreckfree.org/info-resources

Note: there are a number of nationally-based commercial waste and recycling companies who operate across Cornwall including Suez, Biffa, Viridor and Veolia. They collect significant amounts of dry mixed materials – paper, cardboard and plastics – for recycling into new products upcountry. More details about their range of services can be found on their respective websites.

As from 31st March 2025 new legislation comes into force requiring businesses with 10 or more staff to reduce their general waste and recycle more, including any food waste. For more information visit this page on Cornwall Council’s website.

N.B: Our local Too Good to Waste” (TGtW) Circular Economy Guide focuses on Hard-to-Recycle items across specifically the Falmouth/Penryn/Truro areas. For local collection points check Hard to Recycle list for the Falmouth/Penryn area and the Hard to Recycle list for the Truro area

Please alert us to any local changes or omissions by using this form

April 2025
TGtW: Working Towards a Local Circular Economy