A building and insulation material commonly used before the 1970s

The three main types of asbestos are white, blue and brown

Can only cause harm if the fibres are inhaled

Removal from buildings may disturb the fibres

Some councils and garages provide facilities for recycling rechargeable batteries and lead acid car batteries

Rechargeable batteries should be returned to the manufacturer where possible for disposal

There are currently public resource recovery centres in the Ipoh and Kinta Barat for domestic batteries, find out whether your council is involved

Includes: bricks, asphalt, glass, metals, plastics, soil, and wood

Most of this waste is created by the construction industry

Architectural salvage yards take some items for resale, and old bricks and timber can often be reused

Scrap merchants will  recycle old vehicles

Tetra Pak supplies the majority of drinks cartons within Malaysia

Items made from Tetra Pak include milk cartons, fruit juices, liquid foods such as pasta sauces and some ice cream cartons, look out for the Tetra Pak label  

Reuse your old CD's and DVD's by taking them to a charity shop or shops that sell old records

You can also reuse you CDs as room decorations

DO NOT pour chemicals and oil down drains. They will pollute our rivers

Used engine oil can be recycled at designated oil recycler centre

Old or left over paints can be reused for repainting old folks home or house of the less fortunate  

Plastic bottles which contained household cleaners and chemical materials can also be recycled (check instructions on the bottle)

Some retailers take back old electrical items when delivering a new one

If your item still works safely, you could sell it. See Yellow pages for second-hand electrical shops

Some charity organizations will accept small electrical items

Some local council also provides e-waste recycling 

Mobile phones can be recycled through phone retailers and recycling box in shopping outlets

Local charity centre, schools, and community groups can sometimes use unwanted items

Make sure all furniture is clean and in good repair before you donate it

Place glass in the correct colour bin (unless there is a mixed colour glass collection)

Wash out bottles and jars, remove caps and corks before recycling  (avoid wasting water: use your washing-up water)

Light bulbs, Pyrex-type dishes, windowpanes are not recyclable

Dispose of medicines following either your doctor's or the manufacturer's instructions

Care should be taken when disposing of needles and syringes

Glass bottles and jars that have contained medicines can be recycled when they are empty

Usually separated into: Aluminium (drinks cans) - non-magnetic, and steel (food tins) - magnetic. Aerosols can be made from either

Wash and squash cans before recycling. Only recycle clean aluminium foil. Never pierce or crush aerosols even when empty

Only put empty aerosols in recycling schemes i.e. when you cannot get any more out by pressing the button

Crisp wrappers (metallised plastic film) cannot be recycled. Metallised plastic springs back when scrunched

Paper collection is usually separated into: newspapers, mix paper, and cardboards

Juice and milk cartons cannot be recycled with ordinary paper as they are made up of several materials

Some facilities provide mixed paper and card collection

There are over 60 different types of plastics but however it is only categorized into 7 main types of plastic.

Common type of plastic are indicated below:

• HDPE - opaque bottles e.g. detergent bottles
• PVC - transparent bottles, an obvious seam running across the base e.g. mineral water bottles
• PET - transparent bottles, a hard moulded spot in the centre of the base e.g. fizzy drink bottles

some supermarkets have resource recovery centres for recycling carrier bags

Click here for more detailed information on plastic recycling

Old clothes, bedding, curtains, and blankets can be reused in third world countries. Please clean it before recycling

The disposal of wood in landfill sites causes problems as it is often bulky and decomposes slowly

Scrap wood is collected to be used as energy source in some places