Somerset Council launches a trial to allow residents in a block of flats to dispose of small electrical items in a wheelie bin which will be collected fortnightly.
Material Focus, the not-for-profit leading the UK-wide “Recycle your Electricals” campaign, is funding the two-month trial.
Residents of St Athelm Lodge, a block of flats in Wells, can dispose of small electrical items in a new pink wheelie bin, with fortnightly collections planned by Somerset Council’s waste collections contractor SUEZ.
Most households in Somerset can recycle small electricals via their weekly kerbside recycling collection, however, this option is not available to residents that have communal collections, for example, people who live in flats.
Councillor Dixie Darch, Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change said: “We’re pleased to support this project, it makes it easy for residents to recycle and helps them to do the right thing.
“Most people can recycle small electricals at the kerbside, and projects like this help to highlight the importance of recycling electricals.”
Most people can recycle small electricals at the kerbside, and projects like this help to highlight the importance of recycling electricals.”
Somerset Council said any items with a plug, battery or cable that fit into the wheelie bin can be recycled, such as hairdryers, toasters, headphones and DVD players.
The pilot is supported by the Fixy project, an initiative developed by Somerset Council and Resource Futures that helps residents reuse and recycle electricals and smart technology.
During the launch event, Fixy collected donations of smart technology for reuse, including smartphones, tablets and laptops.
The items collected during the launch event from the residents will be donated to DonateIT CIC for data-wiping and refurbishing, and then given to people in digital need, Somerset Council said.
Linda Hull, Fixy Coordinator, commented: “With over 11,000 households living in flats across Somerset, this pilot is an important first step in understanding how best to help such residents recycle their small electricals, keeping all the precious metals inside of them out of the waste stream.”
