It comes as many involved in the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) sector have highlighted the need to increase the currently low collection rate for small WEEE if the UK is to reach potentially tougher recycling targets for WEEE in the future (see letsrecycle.com story).
At a national level, Recycle Now has teamed up with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to encourage householders to take their old but useable electrical items to their nearest BHF Furniture and Electrical Store to donate them for reuse.
This initiative gained support from environment secretary Caroline Spelman, who said: “We've all got electrical items, such as old CD players, around our homes that are often not used or are replaced when the latest gadget comes along.
“These can be donated to charities and groups that can use them, or if broken, can be recycled so they can be made into products of the future,” she added.
Among the councils supporting the scheme are a number holding ‘give and take' events, where householders are encouraged to bring their old electrical equipment, which will be tested to ensure it is useable before, if it is, being made available for others to take away, while waste equipment will be sent for recycling.
London
A number of these events will be held across London as part of the ‘Recycle for London' initiative, with the London boroughs of Brent, Hammersmith & Fulham, Lambeth, City of London and Westminster all involved during the week.
The events have won support from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who said: “One of the things we know people have trouble recycling is electrical items and so we are organising these give and take events.
“Bring along all those old mobile phones, radios and cameras gathering dust in the deepest darkest corners of your home. Not only will you help to reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill, you can also make someone else's day,” he added.
A similar event is set to be held on June 23 by Broadland council in Norfolk, where councillor John Fisher, portfolio holder for environmental policy development, said: “Over the past eight months, we've had some really successful recycling events across the district.”
“But people were bringing things which were working and could easily be used elsewhere. That gave us the idea for the Give and Take event. We want to reuse wherever possible. It saves resources and benefits the giver and the receiver.”
Schools
Their parents – and other adults – are then encouraged to take their unwanted small WEEE to one of the council's household waste recycling centres during Recycle Week, where they will receive a token which the children can then return to their school, with the school with the most tokens winning the biggest prize available.
Derbyshire county council's cabinet member for technology and recycling, councillor John Allsop, said: “We're hoping to raise awareness that people can easily recycle small electrical equipment rather than throwing it in the bin. Many parts can be reused in new products. And toxins from electrical equipment in landfill can pollute the environment and harm wildlife.”
Not all the events being held as part of Recycle Week 2010 are focused on small WEEE, with the event also having the more general focus of ‘Let's Waste Less', and, in Oxfordshire, Cherwell district council is running a ‘compost giveaway' in association with organics company Agrivert.
In total, 2,000 bags of compost sourced from green waste collected over the past year is being given away at events on Saturday (June 26) and Sunday (June 27), with an additional event being held next month.
Sheffield
Meanwhile, in Sheffield, the city council's waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services is marking the week with a series of ‘Recycling Revolution Roadshows', giving residents a chance to find out more about the city's new recycling service.
Members of the Veolia team will be on hand to provide advice on the new service and there will also be a free-to-enter prize draw with prizes ranging from can crushers to recycled fleeces.
With Veolia also unveiling its new Mobile Information Unit on June 26, Kate Townrow, waste awareness officer for the company in Sheffield, commented: “The introduction of the new recycling service is very exciting for Sheffield and there is no better time to celebrate the scheme than during Recycle Week.
“We hope that residents will be able visit us at one of our events next week to learn more about the new service but if not, our Mobile Information Unit will be coming soon to an event near you.”
East Sussex
Roadshows are also being held in East Sussex, with the county council sending its ‘Rethink Rubbish Bus' around the county offering recycling tips and energy saving ideas, with the emphasis on how they can save householders money.
The bus offers presentations, short films and games for both children and adults and also uses solar panels to power the displays and lighting, alongside information on various aspects of waste reuse, recycling and reduction and ‘energy bike' which aims to make clear how much energy various household items require.
Viridor
A range of events are also being held nationwide by Viridor, including in Warrington, Runcorn and Wigan where the ‘WEEE Nursery Campaign' gives householders the chance to drop off small WEEE at local nurseries and a local primary school to allow them to be distributed for reuse by Liverpool-based charity CREATE, or, where appropriate, recycling by Viridor.
Commenting on the initiative, Clare Roberts, owner of Kids Planet Day Nurseries, said “We believe that the ‘WEEE Nursery' campaign will provide a great opportunity for local people to learn more about electrical recycling and will also hopefully remind them to drop of the things that they don't use, rather than leaving them in a draw or putting them into the general waste bin.”
“We want to instil this value into children from a young age and reminding parents about the importance of recycling is the best way to do that.”
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