News and press releases
Switch on to Recycling Electricals this Christmas
Press release
South Tyneside Council is encouraging everyone to recycle or donate their unwanted electronic items during the Christmas and New Year period.
Cameras, hairdryers, DVD players, kettles and toasters are just a few of the items that can be recycled if they have either lost their spark or are replaced by new electronic gadgets and gizmos that are received this Christmas.
The amount of electronic waste that is thrown away is increasing by around five per cent each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. South Tyneside Council is encouraging people to help prevent this growth by recycling or reusing waste or unwanted electronic items.
Recycling in South Tyneside is easy. A range of items can be taken to the Recycling Village at Middlefields Industrial Estate in South Shields. These include:
- Larger electrical goods such as fridges, freezers, washing machines, microwaves and TVs;
- Smaller electrical goods such as irons, radios, kettles and hairdryers;
- Batteries;
- Lightbulbs and lamps.
Batteries can also be recycled in the following stores:
- Asda stores in Coronation Street and Boldon Colliery;
- Morrisons stores in Coston Drive / Ocean Road, South Shields and Jarrow
- Mothercare, King Street, South Shields
- Sainsburys Local, Prince Edward Road, South Shields
- Sainsburys Local, Station Terrace, East Boldon
- B&Q Superstore, South Shields
- Travis Perkins, Mitre Place, South Shields
- Aldi, Chichester Road, South Shields
- Tesco Supermarket, Newcastle Road (outside store)
- Lidl Store, Boldon Lane, South Shields.
Last year in the UK, people bought over 1.2 million tonnes of new electrical and electronic equipment. That is the equivalent of 150,000 double-decker buses!
Only about half of this amount was reused or recycled responsibly and 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.
Councillor Jim Perry, Lead Member for Neighbourhoods and Environment, said: "At the moment, we recycle around 700 tonnes of electrical equipment a year in South Tyneside, which is all thanks to members of the public. I'm sure we all have unwanted electrical and electronic items lying around at home, from an old mobile phone in a drawer, to a broken kettle, iron or hairdryer gathering dust in a cupboard.
"Christmas is an ideal time to have a clear our and recycle electrical items as it is at this time of the year when many people receive new items as gifts. It's very much a time of out with the old and in with the new.
"It's really easy to recycle electrical items in South Tyneside so we would urge people to do their bit and help us to either reuse or recycle more unwanted electrical items!"
If items are in good working order, they could also be passed on to someone else. Consider asking relatives or friends if they would like then, swap or sell them online or donate them to charity.
The initiative coincides with the national 'Weee Recycle' campaign, which will include a waste electronics recycling TV advert to be aired on Boxing Day. It aims to raise householders' awareness of the need to recycle waste electronics.
For further information about where to recycle unwanted or broken electronic items, visit www.southtyneside.info/recycle or www.recyclenow.com
