A Suffolk council is taking action to try and tackle the amount of electrical items that are unnecessarily dumped by setting up distinctive bright pink bins.
The trial recycling scheme will enable residents in East Suffolk to drop off small electrical appliances, such as toasters, kettles, hair dryers and electric toothbrushes.
Known as e-waste, more than 155,000 tonnes of household electrical waste is dumped across the UK each year, while 527 million electrical items are hoarded in UK homes.
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But electrical and electronic items, including both mains and battery-powered devices, contain small quantities of hazardous materials which mean they can't be disposed of through general waste or recycling bins at home.
Instead, homeowners are being encouraged to drop items in the pink bins or sell or donate them to charity, while they can also be taken to a local repair café to be mended and donated, or to the nearest Suffolk Recycling Centre.
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The aim is to encourage residents to recycle more electrical items, removing clutter from their homes and enabling the valuable materials such as precious metals contained in electrical items to be reused in the manufacture of new items.
The new bins are located at Tesco stores in Kesgrave and Martlesham, as well as in Market Place, Saxmundham.
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Cllr James Mallinder, East Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “Recycling old electricals is better for the environment, saving carbon dioxide emissions and ensuring valuable materials contained within them, such as plastics, gold, copper and aluminium can be reused.
"Small changes make a big difference and I would encourage residents in Kesgrave, Saxmundham and Martlesham to recycle their electrical items through the new bins and if successful, we can consider expanding the scheme into other locations.”
Larger electrical items, such as microwaves, cannot be disposed of in the bins and should instead be taken to a recycling centre. Packaging and batteries should not be placed in these bins either.
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