Increasing small waste electrical equipment collection rates has been identified as a priority by the WEEE sector if the UK is to keep increasing its WEEE recycling rate (see letsrecycle.com story), and the waste stream was the focus of an awareness campaign run by the department of business last year (see letsrecycle.com story).
The councils believe 2,413 tonnes of small WEEE was not captured at their HWRCs last year and the six month trial campaign aims to increase county-wide capture of small WEEE by 25% – from the 566 tonnes collected in 2008, to over 700 tonnes – saving the councils £12,000 a year in waste disposal costs in the process.
And, depending on the success of the scheme and whether problems such as vandalism are an issue, they plan to role out similar WEEE recycling banks to other supermarket sites during 2010.
Jody Sherratt, waste strategy awareness manager at Cheshire West and Chester council, commented: “A lot of people are keen to recycle old electrical and electronic items, but they're often unsure how to go about it.
“Both councils are delighted to be working with REPIC on this pioneering scheme which we hope will give residents a convenient, hassle-free way to recycle small WEEE, and will offer other local authorities a model they can easily adapt for their own areas,” he added.
The initiative is using new banks that have been manufactured by Cheshire-based UK Container Maintenance Ltd, using old, refurbished banks, and they are similar in style to textile banks.
The banks have been branded to match Recycle Now's 'Don't Bin It, Bring It' campaign.
As part of the councils' efforts to boost small WEEE recycling rates, they will also host an 18-date roadshow in the run up to Christmas, which has been funded by REPIC.
Earlier this year, WEEE reprocessor SWEEEP teamed up with Swale borough council to introduce bring banks for small WEEE at two supermarket sites in Sittingbourne, Kent (see letsrecycle.com story).
Subscribe for free