THE council’s scrap project has been going ten years, set up to make use of all the things it seemed a shame to throw away but couldn’t be recycled.

It’s open to anybody who lives, works, teaches or goes to school in the borough as long as they phone and make an appointment first.

Schools can make use of just about anything, broken tiles, rolls of cloth, chipped mugs and odd-shaped bits of wood.

Mother, Cathleen Ramsey, whose daughter just finished the reception class at Hampton Infant School, has used cardboard tubes to make cactuses, reflective signpost material to make palm trees and endless reams of cloth to make costumes for plays.

Dressing up for theme days, decorating for school fêtes and designing sets for school productions are all made easier with the scrap scheme.

Steve Perkins, manager of Colour One Ceramics, has been donating tiles to be recycled for many years.

"We’ve always tried to make sure that we give broken tiles to people who might want to use them for mosaics.

"It’s very easy to donate them to the council and I know some tiles of ours were used to make a mosaic at Orleans School in Twickenham."

Jane Elmsley from Eco Action, who run the project for the council, wants more people to donate their spare odds and ends.

She said: "It’s very popular and we do want more businesses to get involved with donating but we only have limited space at the tip."

Anyone interested should call Jane Elmsley at Eco Action on 8891 7063.