Forum Topic

Book Disposal - Stirling Road Tip

Does anyone know how books are disposed of at the Stirling Road tip? What I mean is are they just thrown into general waste or is there a special area to deposit them where they will be reused?

Anita Blake ● 1955d27 Comments

If you want to recycle books there's a book swap at Acton Central station in the entrance hall.

Susan Kelly ● 1955d

Thanks. I was aware of that and have swapped books there but the scale of what I need to dispose of would be too much for it.

Anita Blake ● 1955d

Oxfam bookshop, Turnham Green Terrace?

Ken Munn ● 1955d

You can take 2 large bags (eg bags for life) per person at a time to Oxfam Books Chiswick on Fridays and Saturdays between 10am and 6pm. If you are a taxpayer, signing up to Gift Aid is a great way to make them extra money.  Books would go in general waste in a dump as the covers make them unsuitable for recycling.

Lucy Chambers ● 1955d

Thanks. I was aware of Oxfam Books but once again the volume to dispose of would be too large.

Anita Blake ● 1955d

Any good titles you could offer on Nextdoor for free or put outside your place for takers..

Vivienne Cox ● 1955d

If you have antiquarian books in the collection, might be worth getting Foster's Bookshop to have a look at them.

Lucy Chambers ● 1955d

When we moved house a couple of years back the British Heart Foundation collected several hundred books as well as countless other things. I fear though that since Covid they are a bit less all-encompassing. Worth a try though.

Bruce Hammal ● 1955d

Charity shops generally want everything in smaller amounts so that they can deal with the sorting as they have limited space.Please remember with clothes to try and separate them into seasons sending in the current season's first.

Philippa Bond ● 1955d

'Books would go in general waste in a dump as the covers make them unsuitable for recycling.'I'm wondering whether this is true for all books. Certainly the Mortlake Dump had/has a separate depository for books so I am assuming something useful was/is done with them.

Anne England ● 1955d

Thanks for all the advice although my original question remains unanswered. Will give Mortlake a try first and report back if I can confirm that they have the capacity to ensure a large amount of books deposited will not simply be pumped.

Anita Blake ● 1954d

Lucy answered your question, books go in general waste

Tim English ● 1954d

Just like all recycling - it is the sorting that is needed that takes time space and energy.

Philippa Bond ● 1954d

Stirling Road tip closing early still.  Really is very poor show.  I wrote to Keir Starmer and his office say they are looking into the situation with the tip, but not expecting much.

Maggie Dodge ● 1954d

Ziffit is the 'collection' arm of World of Books. They collect and resell/recycle the books that charity shops cannot move. They collect in bulk from individuals as well IIRC. Might be worth a call to them.

N V Brooks ● 1954d

Anita,When you say the volume of books would be too large for Oxfam, what kind of quantity are you talking about?

Andrew Steed ● 1954d

To use Ziffit you have to key in the ISBN of the book.  They are selective.  They probably won't take older books without ISBNs.

Lucy Chambers ● 1953d

The British Heart Foundation are now back to picking up items so I would try them.

Sarah Bucknill ● 1947d

It would be a shame to send books to a landfill or paper recycling facility.Why not take half to Oxfam and half to the book drop?

Keith Iddon ● 1947d

I take unwanted books to the Oxfam shop just near Turnham Green tube.

James Tickell ● 1947d

Unwanted books can be soaked in vats of varnish or PVA or similar to then be extracted out of the vats drained and piled one atop the other pressed and dried where as compressed 'planks of books' they can be crafted as of working in wood and made into bookshelves and the like which of their final 'cabinet making look' reveals the discernible result of having made a bookshelf from a pile of books.

Bobbie Carnegie ● 1947d

There should be some sort of term for this re-wooding of books.  'Re-wooding': I've coined it!

Lucy Chambers ● 1946d

I have now managed to get up to the tip and found that books can be left at Stirling Road where they are given onto the Salvation Army. There doesn't seem to be any limit but they need to be in bags rather than boxes.

Anita Blake ● 1946d

Don’t forget charity shops or even special charities for kids books for schools

Margie Frew ● 1946d

Pleased to see there were three cars in the Stirling Road tip when I walked past today.  Have they sorted out the booking system?

Maggie Dodge ● 1946d

There are probably a lot of reasons other than what you think.I would imagine that many people have reassessed the way that they do or don't recycle and have ordered their own recycling boxes and bags and bins since both LBH and LBE are short of various ones.

Philippa Bond ● 1945d

Good news Anita. Thanks for that

Maggie Dodge ● 1945d