Recycle your electronic has beens rather than binning them
Hounslow Council is encouraging everyone to recycle or donate their unwanted electronic items during the New Year period, which will coincide with a national ‘WEEE Recycle’ campaign.
The amount of electronic waste that people in the UK throw away is increasing by around 5% each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the country. The ‘WEEE Recycle’ campaign has been set up to ensure that more unwanted or waste electronic items are either reused or recycled.
Last year, people in the UK bought over 1.2 million tonnes of new electrical and electronic equipment - the equivalent of 150,000 double-decker buses. Only about half of this amount was reused or recycled responsibly. A significant proportion of the remainder ended up in landfill, where lead and toxins contained in these items can cause soil and water contamination. This can have a harmful effect on natural habitats, wildlife and human health.
A waste electronics recycling TV advert has been produced as part of the ‘WEEE Recycle’ campaign, which was aired to the nation for the first time on 26 December 2011. The advert aims to raise householder awareness of the need to recycle waste electronics. The organisation that funded the advert, WEEE connect, has been supported by DHL Envirosolutions. WEEE connect believe that the Christmas period is an ideal time for local businesses and councils to run waste electronics recycling campaigns, as at this time of year many people receive new electronic items as gifts.
Cllr Corinna Smart, Hounslow Council’s cabinet member for environment said: “It’s very much a time of out with the old and in with the new at the moment. In 2011, via our household waste recycling centres, we managed to divert over 305 tonnes of waste electronics from landfill.
“This is a fantastic achievement but we need to do more, and we support the campaign for people to recycle their waste electronics and have significantly less impact on the environment around us.”
January 6, 2012
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