Staff at recycling body ‘walk the talk’ with electricals recycling amnesty
05 February 2010
Staff at Banbury-based WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) were so inspired by the national electricals recycling campaign they ran this season, they launched their very own gadget ‘amnesty’, collecting around 120 broken or unwanted items colleagues had stashed at home. Almost 100 of these items were sent for recycling today (5 February) using Cherwell District Council’s brand new, bright pink recycling banks for electricals.
In the run up to Christmas and through January, while WRAP employees persuaded the nation to recycle more, they collected a huge range of their own appliances and gadgets, from irons and TVs to power tools, solar-powered calculators, hair straighteners and even a chocolate fountain!
Items still in working order were offered to colleagues who could give them a new home, and the remaining goods will be the first in Oxfordshire to be collected in the new Cherwell District Council recycling ‘banks’ for electricals, which will soon be located at recycling sites around the district.
Gerrard Fisher, Sustainable Products Programme Manager at WRAP, headed up the national campaign in the run up to Christmas. He says that while we are all getting better at recycling those electronic and electrical goods that are broken or unloved, less than 15% of small items that have a plug, charger or batteries find their way into recycling collections.
“These gadgets usually contain a variety of precious metals, plastics and steel that can all be broken down and reused in new items, significantly reducing cost, the use of virgin raw materials and energy requirements during the manufacturing process,” he says.
“It’s amazing when you put your mind to it how many broken or unwanted appliances, power tools and gadgets we all have lying around in our houses gathering dust, from mobile phones to stereos and power tools, so taking them to these new banks for recycling, or to your local recycling centre, will ensure their valuable components can be reused in new items.”
In one month, the WRAP staff collected the equivalent of what would typically be sent for recycling by 100 people over an entire year. Around 70% of the items collected were broken or unusable, but some of the remaining working gadgets were snapped up by colleagues or given to charities that take working appliances.
One item in every eight collected was a home computer, printer or other piece of IT equipment, making it the most common category. This was closely followed by audio equipment such as CD players and MP3 players, then DVD players and digiboxes. Personal care items such as electric toothbrushes, shavers and hair straighteners were also popular.
The most unusual items were the chocolate fountain, Christmas lights, and a teddy that sings ‘Scotland the Brave’!
You can find your nearest collection centre that takes electricals by using the postcode locator on www.recyclenow.com website, or look up the list of retailers that take back electricals, also on the website.
Editor's notes:
About WRAP:
- WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.
- Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
- More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk
Amy Jackson
WRAP Press Office
01295 817863
amy.jackson@wrap.org.ukTel:
