A project providing a collection and recycling service for unwanted electrical and electronic items which ran on Deeside could be offered elsewhere in Aberdeenshire.
Recycle (Deeside Services), a group dedicated to recycling and reuse, has worked in the local community for ten years, collecting, sorting and recycling plastic bottles.
It even opened a small shop called Kraftwork in Aboyne, where refurbished furniture and repurposed and recycled wooden pallets are sold.
They also sell kindling, decorate horseshoes for weddings and other special occasions and produce handmade soaps.
It is a project run by Aberdeenshire Council’s social work service for people who may require training and support to access employment.
Funding was secured last year to run a free collection service for unwanted IT equipment from homes and businesses on Deeside for a trial period.
Now those behind the scheme want to assess demand and evaluate the merits of extending the service to other parts of Aberdeenshire.
They have compiled a survey with a few short questions which runs until February 15 to help them gather people’s views on how they might use such a service.
If you are interested in accessing such a service, hard copies are now available at libraries, community centres and council offices across Aberdeenshire.
You can also complete the survey online at: http://bit.ly/1Sb1gxF
Items that were complete, in working order and in reasonably good condition, having been purchased within the last few years, were accepted as part of the trial.
These included: PCs, laptops, flat screen TVs and monitors, smartphones, tablets and printer ink cartridges.
Recycle (Deeside Services) worked with environmental organisations Re-Tek, an IT and technology reuse company who have operated in the business sector for over twenty years, and local company Enscape to run the pilot.
Enscape provided management and logistics expertise to assist both Recycle and Re-Tek to implement the new service.
Recycle collected the unwanted items, stored, cleaned and packaged them for Re-Tek to collect, securely wipe and refurbish the items for resale and reuse.
Reuse is generally preferred to recycling: giving a better outcome than breaking down and recycling technology, using less energy.
The items are securely data wiped, repaired and sold by Re-Tek, who provided a share of the profits back to Recycle.