Aberdeen City Council today unveils its plans for a new local small electrical recycling project.
Launched on International E-Waste Day (14th October), the project aims to raise awareness of the importance of recycling electricals and encourage residents across the city to get behind its drive to recycle their electricals. 19 striking, large, bright pink collection bins have been installed across Aberdeen neighbourhoods, providing locals with easily accessible options at community sports clubs and libraries, to safely dispose of unwanted electrical items.
This is one of over 40 UK projects funded by Material Focus, the not for profit leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, who have provided £32,000 to support this project. Aberdeen City Council are joining other projects around the country in making it easier for 10 million UK residents to recycle their electricals. The 19 large bins can be filled with small electricals, including mobile phones, tablets, household appliances, cables, and children’s electrical toys, anything smaller than the size of a standard microwave. Three additional bins will be toured around schools to help educate young people on recycling.
Residents will be made aware of how and where they can recycle their electricals through information on leaflets and on eye-catching posters featuring HypnoCat. Keep an eye out for HypnoCat, the Recycle Your Electricals mesmerising pink, fluffy mascot, who is on a mission to hypnotise local residents into recycling their electricals.
The aim of the nationwide Electricals Recycling Fund is to significantly reduce e-waste and its environmental impact by making it easier for consumers to recycle their electricals. The projects that have been funded by Material Focus include a variety of recycling methods, from kerbside collections to more drop-off points in schools, community centres, and bring banks. Overall there will be over 400 new collection points plus kerbside collections for 5.5 million UK residents.
Recycle Your Electricals research has shown that 80% of consumers believe recycling is a good thing, and many of us already recycle things like paper and plastic. Research has also shown that most of us have unwanted electricals we want to get rid of. On average there are at least 30 electricals hidden away in drawers in UK homes, a total of 880 million items across the Uk - with a simple repair many could be donated or sold to people who could put them to good use. And yet 39% of people bin electricals, rather than recycle or reuse them leading to over 100,000 tonnes of electricals thrown away every year. The aim of these projects is to overcome these issues by making it easier to repair, donate or recycle electricals.
Matthew Smith, Aberdeen City Council Housing and Support Officer, and Aberdeen City Council co-leader Councillor Ian Yuill.
Aberdeen City Council Co-leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “When items can’t be repaired, donated, or reused it’s important to recycle them. The addition of these bins will help our citizens to easily recycle electricals.
“Following the fire at our Altens recycling centre, we know the damage electrical items can cause when not recycled safely. We’re pleased to have a new solution in place to reduce the amount of these items ending up in citizen’s bins.”
Net Zero, Environment and Transport vice-convenor, Councillor Miranda Radley added: “Unwanted electricals are one of the fastest growing types of waste in the world. When these items are incorrectly disposed of, we lose materials like aluminium and copper that can be used to make new devices.
“We would like to extend our thanks to Material Focus for their support in delivering this project.”
"We are pleased to support Aberdeen City Council’s project that addresses the pressing issue of e-waste.” said Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus. "By investing in improved collection and drop-off services and exploring new recycling methods, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more sustainable future by making it easier for 10 million more people to recycle their electricals."
In celebration of International E-Waste Day (14th Oct) Recycle Your Electricals is launching The Great Cable Challenge, calling on all UK households to take part and collectively recycle one million cables, helping to reduce e-waste. Local residents can get involved in International E-waste Day locally by participating in Aberdeen’s electrical recycling project.
To find your nearest recycling point search recycle your electricals.