To help residents recycle even more they will be able to recycle any broken or unwanted small electrical items such as kettles or hair dryers using the weekly kerbside recycling collection from 18th February 2013.
These items must be able to fit in an average size plastic carrier bag and will be collected as part of the weekly green box recycling collection service.
Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said, “It is important that Bath & North East Somerset Council makes recycling as easy and convenient as possible for local people to help increase our recycling levels. This is why we have added this new collection.
“Last year our residents recycled 537 tonnes of small electricals, by taking them to our Recycling Centres. But we still find lots get thrown away. It is a waste to throw these away because they can be recycled and made into new things using their valuable metals and plastics. For example, one clothes iron can provide enough steel to make 13 new steel cans. All the items we collect will be crushed, separated into their different materials and recycled to make new products. People can also donate any working electrical items in reusable condition to charity if possible.”
They will collect any small electrical item that has a plug or uses batteries. Suitable items for collection include:
- Kettles, blenders, calculators, cameras, chargers, digi-boxes, electronic toothbrushes, electronic toys and games, hair straighteners, hi-fi equipment, irons, power tools, shavers, telephones, torches and so on!
They can’t collect any large item including the following:
- No TVs and PC monitors, large printers, washing machines, microwave ovens, and lawn mowers – these can be recycled but are too big for this collection, so residents still need to take these to their local Recycling Centre instead. Alternatively, a collection from the Council can be booked for a charge.
- No fluorescent tubes and light bulbs;
- Any item with leaking batteries or broken glass which could harm our crews.
Any small electrical items must be put in an untied carrier bag next to the green recycling box on the usual weekly collection day by 7am. Households can put out more than one carrier bag if necessary. Remove any batteries first and put these in a small plastic bag at the top of the green box as usual. They may use different vehicles to collect your electricals so don’t worry if the usual recycling has been collected before or after your electrical items.
The funding for the service is being provided by the Government.
The Council’s recycling campaigns team have arranged road shows over the coming months where people can find out more. See dates and venues and more information about the new collection by Google Search ‘Bathnes Electrical Recycling’ or www.bathnes.gov.uk/electricalcollection
