Bath and North East Somerset Council has begun an effort to
increase waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling across
the area by raising awareness of just how much people can recycle
from cameras and kettles to TVs and washing machines.
This is as part of national Recycle Week, when residents are
being asked to make a pledge to waste less and recycle more. There
are different pledges that residents can choose from but the pledge
the Council is encouraging Bath & North East Somerset residents
to sign-up to is, ‘I pledge to sort and recycle my old electrical
items’.
During the week, Recycle Now will send information to the people
who sign-up to a pledge who will be told what the impact of their
pledges has been across the country. Residents can find out
more about electrical waste and how to sign-up by going to:
www.bathnes.gov.uk/wasteservices
Councillor Charles Gerrish, Cabinet Member for Customer Services
commented: “Although residents already achieve a high rate of
recycling, Bath and North East Somerset Council wants to raise the
bar even higher. Currently, only 27% of the 1.44 million tonnes of
electrical items that are purchased every year are recycled and for
smaller items that is as low as 10%. Yet just a typical iron
contains enough steel to make 13 food cans. Stopping more of this
material going to landfill will help tackle the causes and effects
of climate change. I hope people will sign-up to the pledge and
learn more about how to recycle their electrical items and the
other services that the Council provides.”
The Council accepts electrical items at its three Recycling
Centres at Midland Road – Bath, Old Welton – Midsomer Norton, and
Pixash Lane - Keynsham.
Any electrical item that uses a plug or battery, however small,
can be recycled. Items can all be taken to one of the Council’s
three Recycling Centres. Some retailers will also take back
old electrical items - see the Council’s website for further
information.
In 2008/09, 1,350 tonnes of waste electric and electronic waste
was recycled by local people, helping the Recycling Centres to
achieve a recycling rate of 70% and the Council to achieve an
overall recycling rate of 43%.
Some of the items with the lowest rates of recycling are:
- Kettles;
- Toasters;
- Hairdryers;
- Irons;
- Cameras;
- Telephones.
