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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/leeds-england-gb/is-the-tip-open
(last week)
All 8 centres are open
Kirkstall closes at 6 pm
Leeds has eight household waste recycling centres — tips, to everyone who uses them — open seven days a week with no booking and no appointment, whatever some out-of-date websites still say. The hours are two hours shorter through the winter, so each card shows the week actually in force today and the one that takes over.
The centres
Kirkstall household waste recycling centre
Open now
Open now — closes at 6 pm.
Evanston Avenue, off Kirkstall Road in north-west Leeds. The site that takes the most, and the only one that handles asbestos.
Residents only. Any Leeds resident, by car or bicycle.
Limits
Tyres
Four car or motorcycle tyres a visit
Oils, paint and chemicals
5 litres a container
The Revive Leeds re-use shop is here, open 10am to 5:30pm, with its own car park that closes at 4pm. Pedestrians reach it through the gate on Evanston Avenue.
Asbestos goes to the waste transfer station on this site, by appointment booked 48 hours in advance. Nowhere else in Leeds takes it.
Opening hours · Summer hours
In force now: Summer hours (30 March – 25 October)
Monday
8 am – 6 pm
Tuesday
8 am – 6 pm
Wednesday
8 am – 6 pm
Thursday
8 am – 6 pm
Friday
8 am – 6 pm
Saturday
8 am – 6 pm
Sunday
8 am – 6 pm
Winter hours (26 October – 29 March)
Monday
8 am – 4 pm
Tuesday
8 am – 4 pm
Wednesday
8 am – 4 pm
Thursday
8 am – 4 pm
Friday
8 am – 4 pm
Saturday
8 am – 4 pm
Sunday
8 am – 4 pm
What it doesn't take
Fridges and freezers, while the citywide suspension lasts
Gas cylinders and fire extinguishers
Tarmac and asphalt
Industrial, forklift and earth-moving tyres
Pet waste in any quantity — the waste transfer station here takes it for a fee
Residents only. Any Leeds resident, by car or bicycle.
Limits
Tyres
Four car or motorcycle tyres a visit
Oils, paint and chemicals
5 litres a container
The entrance is behind the supermarket car park and easy to drive past.
Otley (Ellar Ghyll) household waste recycling centre
Open now
Open now — closes at 6 pm.
Bradford Road south of Otley, for Wharfedale. The smallest site, and the one that takes much less than the rest — read this card before loading the car.
Residents only. Any Leeds resident, by car or bicycle.
Limits
Tyres
Four car or motorcycle tyres a visit
Oils, paint and chemicals
5 litres a container
The first Revive Leeds re-use shop is here, open 10am to 3:30pm — it sells donated furniture, working electricals, clothes and books cheaply, and it would rather have the usable things than see them tipped.
Wetherby (Thorp Arch) household waste recycling centre
Open now
Open now — closes at 6 pm.
Thorp Arch industrial estate, for Wetherby, Boston Spa and the eastern villages.
Residents only. Any Leeds resident, by car or bicycle.
Limits
Tyres
Four car or motorcycle tyres a visit
Oils, paint and chemicals
5 litres a container
Opening hours · Summer hours
In force now: Summer hours (30 March – 25 October)
Last entry is a quarter of an hour before closing
The barrier shuts 15 minutes before the time on the card: 5:45pm while the summer hours run, 3:45pm once the winter hours start. Every site is open seven days a week, and closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Fridges and freezers are not being taken at the moment
Leeds has temporarily stopped accepting fridges and freezers at all eight centres: a national shortage of specialist processing capacity has filled the storage areas, and the council says it cannot safely take any more. Retailer take-back schemes and specialist collection companies still work, so store the appliance if you can.
DIY waste is free, but rationed
Since 8 January 2024 small amounts of DIY waste cost nothing. Free disposal is capped at four visits a month per household, bringing either two 50-litre bags or one item no bigger than 2m by 0.75m. More than that means a skip, an accredited waste carrier from the Leeds Accredited Waste Carrier Scheme, or paying at the Kirkstall or Seacroft waste transfer station.
Where does this go?
Material
Accepted at
Note
Garden waste
Every centre
Wood
Every centre
Glass
Every centre
Bottles and jars go in the green bin at home too.
Cardboard
Every centre
Paper
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Otley takes cardboard but not paper.
Scrap metal
Every centre
Textiles and clothing
Every centre
Shoes
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Electrical appliances
Every centre
Anything with a plug or a battery, apart from fridges and freezers.
Televisions and monitors
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Energy-saving bulbs and fluorescent tubes
Every centre
Household batteries
Every centre
Car batteries
Every centre
Petrol and diesel only. An electric-vehicle battery goes back to the manufacturer or the dealer.
The council's page for this site says it is currently turning away rubble and plasterboard, and upholstered seating of any kind — sofas, sofa beds, armchairs, cushions, cushioned dining and office chairs, footstools and beanbags.
The rest of the list below is what its published accepted-materials list leaves out. For a mattress, a sofa, paint, chemicals, a television or tyres, the nearest sites that take them are Yeadon and Pudsey.
Opening hours · Summer hours
In force now: Summer hours (30 March – 25 October)
You cannot walk in, and a van or trailer needs a permit
These are working sites with heavy vehicles moving around, so there is no pedestrian access — you have to arrive by car or on a bicycle. A short-wheelbase low-roof van under 3 tonnes, a car towing a trailer up to 1.2m by 1.8m, a 4x4 pickup, a minibus, a campervan or a car with business writing on it all need a free permit first. Box vans, high-roof and long-wheelbase vans, single-cab pickups, flatbeds, horse boxes and agricultural vehicles are not allowed on site at all.
Children and pets stay in the car
Under-16s and animals have to stay in the vehicle, and so does anyone who is not carrying waste. Wear closed shoes, and bring someone with you if there is something heavy to lift over the container wall — staff can only help where it is safe to.
Engine and cooking oil
Every centre
5 litres a container.
Furniture, including sofas and armchairs
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Otley takes no furniture at all, and is currently refusing upholstered seating of any kind.
Mattresses
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Carpets
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Paint
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Household, DIY and garden chemicals
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
5 litres a container.
Aerosols
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Books
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
If they are still readable, the Revive Leeds shops at Kirkstall and Seacroft will sell them on.
Mobile phones
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Walking aids
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Crutches, aluminium zimmer frames and walking sticks.
Rubble, hardcore, soil, plasterboard and ceramics
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Free within the four-visits-a-month limit above. Tarmac and asphalt are never accepted. Otley is refusing rubble and plasterboard at the moment.
Tyres
Every centre except Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Four car or motorcycle tyres a visit. Industrial, forklift and earth-moving tyres are never accepted.
Foil and drinks cartons
Every centre except Meanwood, Otley (Ellar Ghyll)
Kirkstall takes Tetra Pak cartons as well as foil.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate pods
Kirkstall, Wetherby (Thorp Arch), Yeadon
Aluminium and plastic, and Pringles-style tubes with metal ends.
Printer cartridges
Wetherby (Thorp Arch)
Fridges and freezers
Suspended at every Leeds centre while a national shortage of specialist processing capacity lasts. Retailer take-back schemes and specialist collection companies are not affected.
Asbestos
The waste transfer station at Kirkstall, and only there, with every delivery booked 48 hours in advance.
Gas cylinders and fire extinguishers
Back to the manufacturer or the retailer — no Leeds centre takes them.
Food waste
Your black bin. In the Wetherby-area trial it goes in the brown bin with the garden waste instead.
Pet waste
Your black bin. A large quantity can go to the Kirkstall waste transfer station for a fee.
Anything from a business or a tradesperson
A licensed facility — the Kirkstall or Seacroft waste transfer stations, a skip, or an accredited waste carrier. That includes work a tradesperson did in your own home, and waste from a property you let out.