Hart District Council has unveiled its plans for the kerbside collection of small electricals. The trial service began to roll out in autumn in the hope that all local residents will get behind the drive to recycle their electricals.
This kerbside collection will be available to all residents by Spring 2024 with the service starting from Monday 29 January for the first wave of households. It will then be rolled out across the next few months, to avoid any capacity issues with the service.
Once the service launches in their area, residents can recycle small electricals by leaving them on top of their waste or recycling bin. They'll receive a letter outlining the start date for the service in their area.
The kerbside doorstep collections will make it easier for Hart residents to recycle small appliances with a plug, battery or cable. By offering this service Hart District Council can recycle thousands more small appliances, toys and other electricals every year.
This is one of over 40 UK projects funded by Material Focus, the not for profit leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign who have provided £22,000 to support this project. Hart District Council are joining other projects around the country in making it easier for 10 million UK residents to recycle their electricals.
The aim of the nationwide Electricals Recycling Fund is to significantly reduce e-waste and its environmental impact by making it easier for consumers to recycle their electricals.
Recycle Your Electricals research has shown that 80% of consumers believe recycling is a good thing, and many of us already recycle things like paper and plastic. Research has also shown that most of us have unwanted electricals we want to get rid of, even if it’s just a drawer of cables - millions of electrical items are hoarded in UK homes. And yet 39% of people bin electricals rather than recycle them saying they think it's simply too hard to recycle.
Hart District Councillor Richard Quarterman, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services said “Our residents are keen to increase the amount of recycling they can do as part of their household collections and we are pleased to now be able to offer this additional service, allowing broken electricals to become something new.
“As well as this service for broken or unusable products, we’d encourage everyone to look at options for those electricals still in good working order, such as donating them to allow them to continue to be used.”
"We are pleased to support this next phase in Hart District Council’s new kerbside collection, that addresses the pressing issue of e-waste.” said Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus. "By investing in improved collection and drop-off services and exploring new recycling methods, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more sustainable future by making it easier for 10 million more people to recycle their electricals."