A partnership between some of the UKs largest WEEE producer compliance schemes and reprocessors have today (March 31) unveiled a new TV advert in a bid to raise householder awareness of the need to recycle waste electronics.
The 30-second film has been jointly funded by four reprocessors and five compliance schemes. Non-financial support came from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which includes its Recycle Now branding being used on the film.
It seeks to encourage householders not to dispose of old electrical equipment in their residual waste or to put them in a cupboard but to instead take them to their nearest recycling centre, with a particular focus on small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
Viewers are told how their waste electronics will then be sent for reprocessing and eventually contribute to new products and advised to use WRAPs Recycle Now site to find their nearest recycling centre.
The advert is now set to be aired on ITV regional franchises relevant to the parties who have provided funding for the campaign and also used online.
Justin Greenaway, contracts manager for Kent reprocessor SWEEEP Kuusakoski and the man responsible for co-ordinating the initiative, told letsrecycle.com that he was in negotiations with Meridian TV, the ITV franchise for the South East.
He added: All of the consortium members have a variety of ingenious uses of the 30-second film much wider scope that the original TV usage proposal.
Duncan Simpson, marketing director for compliance scheme Valpak, which is one of the videos funders, added: Were now looking at the various formats we can put it in; its applicable to TV and the internet.
Id like to see it on TV at some point, but at the moment were looking at other avenues like social networking.
A spokeswoman for Overton Recycling said the reprocessor was looking at a number of options for how to use the advert, including regional TV, but also advertising at local cinemas and on screens in shopping centres.
She noted that the cost of the various avenues was a consideration, but said the aim was to come up with a better way to capture and educate people about WEEE recycling.
Public awareness
Mr Greenaway first mooted the idea of launching an industry-led TV advert-based awareness campaign to raise public awareness of WEEE recycling in January 2010, citing frustration over the lack of a government-run national initiative (see letsrecycle.com story).
The advert was seen as particularly important in increasing small WEEE recycling rates, which reached just 16.4% for household material in 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story). The overall household WEEE collection rate of 38.4% achieved last year also looks set to need to increase significantly in the face of potentially higher European WEEE recycling targets.
Companies
Firm plans for the initiative were unveiled in July 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story), with the eight companies originally involved including reprocessors Overton Recycling, SWEEEP Kuusakoski and W&S Recycling.
The compliance schemes involved include DHL Envirosolutions, Wastepack Group Electrolink, ERP UK, REPIC Limited and Valpak.
Originally each party involved agreed to provide 4,000 each to fund the production of the advert, but Mr Greenaway noted that, with the involvement of another partner Welsh WEEE reprocessor Centillion it had worked out slightly cheaper for everyone. He said it had been brought in on budget.
Commenting on the advert, Scott Butler, managing director of ERP UK, said: ERP strongly endorses the recycle your electricals the right way message in the advert. We are always keen to support ways of encouraging people to take their old equipment to their nearest recycling centre.
The importance of the campaign was highlighted by Dean Overton, of Overton Recycling, who said it was it was critical for the public to be educated about the need to recycle WEEE if the UK was to improve its collection rate.
We believe that illustrating the importance of recycling to people of all ages, in this visual way, is long overdue, he told letsrecycle.com. With young people known to exert pressure on their parents to do things correctly, we are confident that the advertisement will meet its objectives.
His sentiments were echoed by Dr Philip Morton, chief executive of REPIC, who said: Most people want to recycle and most will if they know what to do and how and where to do it; this advert will help.
The importance of various industry stakeholders working together was welcomed by Paul James, head of development at DHL.
And, Martyn Parfitt, operations manager for Wastepack, said the need for UK WEEE recycling rates to increase was vital, while Tony Knowles, operations manager at W&S Recycling described the advert as a bold positive move.
Register for free to comment