Recycling service for small electrics launched

September 26, 2014 by Joanna Harrison

Residents will soon be able to put out small electrical items with their kerbside recycling collections.

The electrical recycling scheme is available to all residents in Southend-on-Sea and allows for unwanted small electrical items such as kettles, toasters, mobile phones and hairdryers to be collected for recycling at the kerbside. Cory Environmental are delivering leaflets to every household advising them of the start of the scheme in their area, with the scheme being completely rolled out by the end of October. Unwanted small electrical items can be placed in any carrier bag and put out for collection on the normal recycling collection day. The bags will be collected and placed in a special container under the vehicle. The scheme is expected to divert approximately 40 tonnes of electrical waste from landfill a year, which is the equivalent of about 3,000 kettles, much of which contain precious metals such as copper and indium (used in crystal displays), which can then be extracted and used to create new products. To encourage further recycling, Cory Environmental are also funding an increase in the number of rolls of pink recycling sacks being delivered to all households. Since early August, an extra roll of pink recycling sacks have been included in the on-going six monthly sack deliveries, with households now receiving a total of four rolls. This means every household has the equivalent of two pinks sacks to be used for recycling every week. For those that produce large amounts of recycling, additional rolls of pink recycling sacks can be collected from any library branch across the borough free of charge, or from the Civic Centre. Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s Executive Councillor for Public Protection, Waste and Transport, Councillor Martin Terry said: “I am very pleased to see the introduction of this small electrical recycling scheme which will divert materials going to landfill and will also be of great use to local people. Giving people another roll of pink recycling sacks will also further help people to recycle everything they can.” Emma Cheesman, Recycling and Administration Manager at Cory Environmental added: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to recycle and with a kerbside collection for electrical items and an additional roll of pink recycling sacks we’re hoping to see a reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill, which not only helps the environment but also reduces expensive landfill disposal costs.”