Recycling

At last a plan to help us safely dispose of small electrical items

January 2024  With 2023 out of the way, most people will be hoping that 2024 is better locally, nationally and internationally. The prospects aren’t great, and even the tiniest bits of good news are very welcome.

The proposals about the recycling of small items of electrical waste fall into this category – their not world changing but will help with a source of irritation and frustration for many people.

We have become used to putting out our blue and brown bins for recycling, and arranging for large items including old white goods such as freezers and washing machines to be taken away. We store spent batteries until we can take them to a disposal point at a supermarket, but there is still a gap as far as recycling is concerned – small electrical items such as kettles, hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, videos, telephones, power tools and more.

Electrical items contain lead and other toxins which can easily cause contamination to soil and water. The Science Museum says that each year in the UK the amount of electrical waste we create could fill the new Wembley Stadium six times. A retailer may take back your old, broken or damaged electrical items and for a fee the Borough Council can arrange to collect large items including large electrical items.

But there is no kerbside collection for small electrical items. They can be taken to one of the main recycling sites such as the one at Coalville, or to one of a few electrical recycling banks. The nearest is at Bosworth College at Desford. Many will feel that travelling to Desford or Coalville

is not a particularly environmentally way of disposing of small electrical items. The Government proposals out for consultation until June will, if implemented, fill the gap.

It seems an incredible figure, but the Government says that every year 500 tonnes of Christmas lights are discarded in the UK. Smaller household electricals such as cables, toasters, kettles and power tools weighing an estimated 155,000 tonnes are wrongly thrown in the bin each year. UK homes are thought to hoard a further 527 million unwanted electrical items containing valuable materials such as gold, silver and platinum.

New arrangements proposed

A range of measures are proposed for introduction from 2026 which would mean collections of waste electricals directly from households – saving the public from having to trek to distant electrical disposal points. The suggestion that the collections would be financed by producers of electrical items, not the taxpayer, may prove controversial, though it can be argued that the price we pay for goods should include the ultimate costs of disposal or recycling.

Large retailers could be asked to provide collection drop points for electrical items in-store, free of charge, without the need to buy a replacement product. Retailers and online sellers might also take responsibility for collecting unwanted or broken large electrical items such as fridges or cookers when delivering a replacement.

“Every year millions of household electricals across the UK end up in the bin rather than being correctly recycled or reused,” said Recycling Minister Robbie Moore. “This is a sheer waste of our natural resources and has to stop. We all have a drawer of old tech somewhere that we don’t know what to do with and our proposals will ensure these gadgets are easy to dispose of without the need for a trip to your local tip.”

It’s also proposed that suppliers of vapes properly finance the cost of their separate collection and treatment when the items become waste. Nearly 5 million vapes are now thrown away every week, and the potential yearly cost of collecting and recycling vapes which have been incorrectly disposed of is an estimated £200 million.

A recent study on public attitudes and behaviours found that many people are unaware of, or have difficulty accessing, recycling points for waste electricals. Around three-quarters of UK adults say they would recycle their electricals at their local supermarket, electrical retailer or charity retailer if it was available to them.

The Goverment consultation commenced on December 28 and runs until 7 March 2024. It can be found at https://consult.defra.gov.uk.

 A resident asks a question about recycling...

 Dec 2015    Laurie Goldberg asked a question about the household waste recycling service. In a letter to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council he wrote "During the collection today in Groby I saw your operatives take each blue bin, remove the paper caddy and empty the contents into the main bin before placing the bin on the truck for emptying into the vehicle. What is the point of us separating dry recycling material if your staff promptly mix them up again? The Council prides itself on its performance in recycling waste - what I have just witnessed calls that claim into doubt." 

Another resident, Peter Cooke, says he has seen the same practice. "The latest issue (no.48) of Hinckley & Bosworth's Borough Bulletin has a 'Your questions answered' article about recycling on page 16,” wrote Peter. "One of the paragraphs states 'However, it is still very important that the paper/cardboard is still kept separate from other items and vice versa.' This is totally contrary to what Laurie Goldberg and I witnessed on our collection days." 

So are things going wrong or are their eyes deceiving them? The Borough Council has an explanation but it is likely that the complainants, along with other residents, will watch future collections very carefully before they are convinced. So what does the Council have to say? 

"Other residents have contacted the council in the past, quite rightly concerned after seeing what appears to be their carefully separated items apparently being mixed with the content of other bins," explained a spokesperson. "We would like to assure residents, that whilst it may look like materials are being mixed together, that is not quite what is happening. The crews use an intermediate bin for transferring paper/card from a number of caddies before tipping this into the vehicle. This can of course give rise to the concern that separated items are being mixed, but paper/card and other materials are then placed into two separate sections at the back of the refuse vehicle – this can be clearly seen on the photo." 

He acknowledges, however, that Laurie does not believe that this is what he saw. "Curiously though, in this case, when we contacted your correspondent to explain this, he insisted that this was not what he witnessed. We were concerned to hear this so, as a precautionary measure, we checked the contents of the collection vehicle when it returned to the Depot and whilst we didn’t find any contamination of materials in that load, we are not complacent." 

Residents are the eyes and ears of the Council and the spokesperson appreciated someone taking time to raise the issue, adding that "we will continue to monitor this closely as part of our service quality checks and thank your correspondent for bringing it to our attention. The Borough's recycling contractors welcome anyone to visit their recycling depot in Coventry to see how items collected for recycling are sorted ready for the next stage in the recycling journey.” If you are interested email your contact details to grobynews@live.co.uk.