Candle Recycling

Recycling candles has always been at the heart of what we do. At Balfern Grove, we’re starting small — running parts of our scheme as a pilot programme while we build up our recycling capacity.

That means the system isn’t perfect yet, but every candle you recycle with us helps us improve, expand, and keep wax out of landfill.

If you have candles at home that you’d like to recycle — thank you!

When we recycle wax into new blends, unscented candles are the easiest to work with. Fragranced waxes are more complex, so we currently need to limit how much of this type of wax we process.

If you’re happy to cover the postage, you can send us:

Glassware candles
Wax melts
Tealights (including metal or plastic cups)
LED “fake” wax candles
Fragranced or coloured pillars

👉 If you have a large number of plain white candles, please get in touch first.
👉 For everything else, please follow the instructions for sending via InPost lockers.
Download the InPost App here

When sending recycling, please include a note with your name and email address. We’re building a record of our “Recycling Heroes” and in the future we hope to introduce a reward system where you can earn points towards recycled candles.

You can send us almost any type of candle or wax product.

To help us recycle more efficiently, please:

Prioritise plain white unscented candles where possible.
Avoid sending broken glass or unsafe packaging.
Separate types of products (e.g. don’t mix wax melts with glass jars or tealights).

We recommend creating separate collection boxes at home (tealights / glass / wax melts / pillar or dinner candles). When one box is full, send that to us.

Candles of any colour and size are welcome, but check parcel dimensions with your courier to avoid excess charges.

At this stage, we’re asking all recycling to be sent through the InPost locker system. This helps us track parcels and prepare for safe processing.

Please use:

Postcode: PR7 3BE (Morrisons Chorley)
Locker options: Two at “Morrisons Chorley” and one at “Morrisons Petrol Station Chorley”
Recipient details:
First name: Richard
Surname: Candles
Phone: 07351 203156 (for delivery tracking only)
Email: wastewaxuk@gmail.com (for delivery tracking only)

When completing the parcel details, mark the contents as “Candles” and set the item value as the shipping cost. This way, if anything goes wrong, you may be able to claim back postage.

Please note: as the sender you are responsible for any claims or failed deliveries.

If you’re a pub, restaurant, hotel, or church and would like to recycle candles with us, we’d love to hear from you.

👉 Please contact us here and we’ll get in touch to arrange a collection or delivery option that works for you.

Once your candles reach us, we:

Sort and separate everything into process boxes.
Plain white unscented candles: melted, filtered, graded, blended, and re-poured into new candles.
Tealights: wax is removed from metal cups and recycled.
Glassware: cleaned and reused for testing or small projects. (Fun fact: candle glass is heat-treated, which makes it harder to recycle through normal channels — so we aim to keep it in circulation wherever safe and possible).
Fragranced or coloured waxes: kept separate. Removing fragrance is costly and energy-intensive, so these waxes are usually diverted into alternative uses such as firelighters or fuel.

Safety always comes first: if glass is damaged or unsuitable, we ensure it goes through the correct recycling channels.

As a small business at an early stage, we can’t currently cover the cost of postage for domestic recycling.

We hope to develop logistics solutions in future — but for now, we ask that you cover postage yourself using the InPost system above.

Our long-term goal is to create a UK-wide network of candle recycling points. Once it’s ready, we’ll launch an interactive map to help you find your nearest location.

If you run a shop, church, or community space and would like to host a recycling point, please contact us here so we can talk logistics.