Vale Street is Lambeth’s Reuse and Recycling Centre in West Norwood. In 2009, we stopped accepting rubbish and dedicated the entire site to reuse and recycling only.
Alongside the usual materials such as paper, glass, garden waste and metal, you can recycle and reuse some slightly more unusual items such as VHS and cassette tapes, cooking oil, carpets and spectacles.
We are working in partnership with a number of community groups and charities who benefit from the items you donate.
We have recently teamed up with Cycooldelic Revolution and Bling Ya Bike, two local groups running bike safety, maintenance and art workshops with young people throughout the borough.
Unwanted bikes dropped off at Vale Street are given a new lease of life through these innovative projects as Jimmy from Cycooldelic Revolution explains.
“We are very grateful for the contribution of bicyles that have been kindly donated to us from the Lambeth waste team at Vale Street. Since August, we have received over 30 bikes that have been restored by our participants through our Recycle a Cycle project which is funded by Brixton Low Carbon Zone team.
As a result, we have successfully completed two courses of bicycle maintenance workshops where all the participants received a free bike. These participants are from low income families in Lambeth and have been inspired to cycle more as their preferred mode of transport.”
We are also the first local authority to support The Conservation Foundation’s Tools Shed scheme. Garden hand tools collected at Vale Street are taken to Wandsworth Prison where they are refurbished and distributed to community gardens and schools.
David Shreeve, Director of the Conservation Foundation says:
“We are very keen to avoid transporting tools long distances and so local authorities can play a vital part in providing tools which can be recycled in their local prisons. This is a successful project which helps equip the next generation of gardeners, reduces waste and provides practical skills for prisoners and having the support of Lambeth is an important step towards involving other local authorities.”