Garden tool recycling scheme

Please note that our collection point for unwanted garden tools at Eden is temporarily closed due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drop off your broken or unwanted garden hand-tools here at the Eden Project, where they’ll be collected for refurbishment in local prisons and passed on to school and community gardens.
What happens to the tools?
Tools are collected through the Tools Shed scheme and taken to a local prison, where prisoners are taught the woodwork and metalwork skills they need to repair them. They are given away free to local schools and community groups, to help create and maintain green spaces.
What can I recycle?
Tools Shed accepts gardening hand tools, such as spades, rakes, forks and hoes – but no secateurs, power tools or workshop tools.
Where shall I bring the tools?
If you’re dropping tools off at the collection point at the Eden Project, come to the entrance of our Waste Recycling Centre (near Pineapple Car Park and the Green Build Hub) where you’ll find a blue and green wheelie bin labelled ‘Tools Shed’.
Tools Shed also operates collection points around the UK, in Devon, Somerset, Oxfordshire, London, Lincolnshire and Edinburgh.
How can I get free tools for my group or school?
Refurbished tools are given away to schools and community groups in the following regions, where Tools Shed operates: South West England; London; Norfolk; Lancashire; Lincolnshire; Edinburgh; West Midlands.
Please register your interest on the Tools Shed website, and they’ll be in touch with information about the next giveaway in your region.
Tools Shed is a Conservation Foundation project in association with HM Prisons and funded by The Big Lottery.