Bring it back – how to give e-waste a new lease of life

Residents can give their e-waste a new lease of life by taking it to Castle Leisure Centre in Bury.

Over a third of UK households hold on to at least one redundant small electrical appliance that has the potential to be recycled^[1]. That’s a staggering 245,688^[2]small appliances - that either definitely no longer work or the owner doesn’t know if they work in the Bury area alone.

On International E-Waste Day, Friday 14 October 2022, Recycle Your Electricals is urging the people of Bury to tackle this e-waste challenge by decluttering their homes of these end-of-life electricals, bagging them up and bringing them for free recycling at Castle Leisure Centre, Bolton Street, Bury.

In an ideal world, every hair appliance, toaster, food blender or kettle would be used for as long as it was needed, with safely working products getting the chance of a new life with another owner. Once a product is no longer working it should then be given a new lease of life through an official recycling system. This would allow precious materials to be recovered from these appliances, which can then be made into new products, while reducing the need to mine for virgin materials.

The stark reality is that many small electricals end up hoarded away in our homes, out of sight and mind and their precious materials lost or worse still, discarded in the household waste bin and not being recycled.

This year International E-Waste Day is focussed on those small electrical appliances that we no longer use but keep in drawers or cupboards under the slogan “Recycle it all no matter how small”.

According to UK research commissioned by Bury based, REPIC, for International E-Waste Day, UK households are holding on to more IT equipment than any other small appliances and gadgets. A staggering 11.7 million laptops that either definitely no longer work or the owner doesn’t know if they work and 9.2 million Tablets, both featured in in the five most hoarded items in first and third place respectively.

Completing the top five most hoarded items, not in working condition or known working condition, are headphones, USB sticks and kettles - which all have the potential to be recycled and contain valuable precious materials such as gold, platinum, copper, and other high-value recoverable materials.

The people of Bury are being encouraged to look for any small electrical appliances that are no longer working or in use and take advantage of a temporary collection point that is being established for International E-Waste Day. Staff from Emerge Recycle, a licensed waste carrier and registered charity, will be hosting this free e-waste collection point from 9am on Friday 14 October to coincide with International E-Waste Day.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “If you plan to make a journey to our centre or are passing nearby we encourage each household to make use of this convenient, free of charge collection point and declutter at least one unused or broken small electrical appliance.

“As from our unwanted small electrical appliances, specialists can recover plastic and metals like gold, copper, steel and aluminium, which can be used to make new products – from bicycles and children’s play areas to life-saving equipment. It’s a very easy way for us all to make a difference to our environment by reducing the demand for new raw materials.”

Items that the Castle Leisure Centre is happy to receive include:

YES PLEASE

· Small Household Appliances, e.g., kettles, irons, toasters, personal grooming products such as electric toothbrushes and shavers, hairdryers and straighteners

· IT and Telecommunications Equipment, e.g., PCs, laptops, mice, keyboard, printers/scanners and shredders

· Consumer Equipment e.g., radios, DVD players, hi-fi systems, musical instruments and cameras

· Electrical and Electronic Tools, e.g. sewing machines, electric drills and electrical screwdrivers and small electrical gardening tools

· Toys, Leisure and Sports Equipment, e.g. video games, pedometers, computers and torches

NO THANKS

· Large Household Appliances, e.g. washing machines, electric heating appliances, cookers, televisions and fridge or freezers

· Gas Discharge Lamps, fluorescent lighting, LED lighting

· Loose Batteries

· NON-WEEE Items e.g. packaging, furniture, building waste, general waste

Please remember to:

• Bring all items with their cables and plugs
• If batteries are removable, please take these out prior to disposal and recycle separately
• Remove any packaging and take items out of bags prior to depositing

International E-Waste Day is an annual awareness day operated by the WEEE Forum to raise the public profile of e-waste recycling and encourages consumers to recycle their unwanted or end of life electricals. This year, the main focus of International E-Waste Day is on those small electrical appliances that we no longer use but keep in drawers or cupboards under the slogan “Recycle it all no matter how small”.

The producer responsibility organisations that are members of the WEEE Forum, manage the collection of e-waste and are constantly working to make the proper disposal of small e-waste simple and convenient for consumers. REPIC, a UK member of the WEEE Forum and leading UK producer responsibility scheme for waste electricals, is heading the UK charge and has for the first time engaged the support of the UK’s dedicated WEEE awareness campaign, Recycle Your Electricals to offer a consistent voice and branded message to consumers about the responsible recycling of unwanted electricals.

ENDS

Issued: 7 October 2022.

About survey:

The survey was designed using the UNITAR WEEE flows tool kit to establish information on hoarding and lifespan of products.

About REPIC:

REPIC is a not-for-profit producer compliance scheme established in January 2004 by leading companies in the electrical and electronics industry – to meet their obligations under producer responsibility legislation, including batteries, packaging and WEEE, and to assist in wider environmental compliance. REPIC has recycled over 3 million tonnes of electricals since the WEEE Regulations began in the UK.

About WEEE Forum

The WEEE Forum is the world’s largest multinational centre of competence for the operational know-how concerning the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). It's a not for profit association of 46 WEEE producer responsibility organisations across the world and was founded in April 2002.

About Recycle Your Electricals

Recycle Your Electricals is a UK-wide campaign motivating and making it easier for everyone to reuse and recycle unwanted electricals, ensuring we make the most of the valuable materials in them. The campaign is led by Material Focus.