The relaunch will see the 35 existing banks across the city wrapped in pink, with improved security measures too.
The banks accept any small electrical items with batteries, a plug or a charger, such as hairdryers, irons, mobile phones and laptops.
They are to be found across the city in areas such as Garforth, Otley and Wetherby. It is hoped the banks will help stop residents from putting WEEE in their residual waste bins.
A city council spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “These WEEE banks are already in place but are being ‘relaunched’, effectively. In total there are 35 banks across the city to recondition and this will be completed on a rolling programme over the next few months. All will have the new wraps and improved security.”
The total value for the project is £123,220, which comprises money from the council, its compliance scheme WEEE Link, and funding from the national distributor takeback scheme (DTS).
Towards the end of 2019 the council secured grant funding from the DTS to support activities aimed at increasing the separate collection of household WEEE for reuse and recycling.
Leeds
WEEE Link, a subsidiary of the Wastepack group, carries out collections from the banks on behalf of the council. Once collected, the WEEE is sent for recycling and critical rare metals such as gold, silver, palladium and copper are extracted.
While there is no cost to the council for WEEE recycling generally, it says it receives an income from the higher value WEEE such as laptops, games consoles and mobile phones. The components of these items often have a high resale value, the council says.
Representing a population of more than 790,000, Leeds city council had a household waste recycling rate of 38.2% in the 2019/20 financial year. This is below the national average of 45.5%.
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