Residents in north London have been given the chance to request a doorstep collection of all their waste electrical and electronic items until the end of June 2012.
The collection scheme, which runs from April 16, is being organised by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) alongside producer compliance scheme DHL Envirosolutions and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) reprocessor SWEEEP Kuusakoski.
The scheme has been timed to coincide with the switchover from analogue to digital television signal in London which began on April 4, with the last of the analogue signals set to be broadcast on April 18.
Householders in the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest will be able to book a free collection of any item of waste electrical and electronic equipment including bulky items and small WEEE.
Reprocessing
Once collected the WEEE items will be processed at the SWEEEP Kuusakoski authorised treatment facility in Sittingbourne, Kent, where reusable items will be separated out and reprocessed, and waste items shredded and sorted into different material streams.
DHL Envirosolutions has also set up 123 Recycle for Free, a scheme which offers businesses and organisations, rather than households, a free collection service for unwanted electrical items including white goods, small WEEE and IT equipment. The service has now been rolled out in ten London Boroughs. Collections can be arranged by calling 0800 0851050 or visiting the scheme’s website.
David Beadle, managing director of the NLWA, said: This scheme will give local residents an opportunity to clear out both bulky and small electrical items that may not have been possible without the use of a vehicle, whilst decreasing the amount of this potentially harmful waste being sent to landfill.
With many residents updating from analogue televisions because of the digital switchover, the Diamond Jubilee, Olympics and Euro 2012 football tournament, this is a really useful service that will help people dispose of their old TV or other electrical items safely and free of charge. We urge residents to take advantage of this great opportunity to clear out any unwanted electrical items.
British Heart Foundation
London residents can also recycle unwanted analogue television sets free of charge under a service offered by the British Heart Foundation. The service, which is being promoted by Recycle for London, the public awareness campaign delivered by the Greater London Authority and WRAP, is intended to prevent large numbers of unwanted television sets being sent to landfill (see letsrecycle.com story).
To mark the switchover to the digital signal, DHL Envirosolutions has also commissioned an art exhibition by renowned video artist David Hall. The exhibition titled 1001 TV Sets, was launched last month at the University of Westminster and runs until April 22. It uses more than one thousand discarded televisions collected from civic amenity sites (see letsrecycle.com story).
All of the television sets featured in the installation are tuned at random to an analogue station, with the televisions broadcasting only static as the signals are switched off. After the exhibition has finished, the sets will be recycled by SWEEEP Kuusakoski.
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