Recyclers want your unwanted electricals (From St Helens Star)

Recyclers want your unwanted electricals

6:00am Friday 8th February 2013 in News

RECYCLING centres in St Helens are giving away free heavy recycling bags in exchange for unwanted or broken electrical items under a scheme designed to stop valuable metals ending up in landfill.

The Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) scheme involves all four household waste recycling centres in the town centre, Newton-le-Willows, Rainford and Rainhill, and aims to recycle precious metals used in electrical and electronic items.

Centre visitors will get a free heavy duty recycling bag in exchange for broken or unused small electrical and electronic waste items – from hairdryers, hair straighteners and children’s electronic toys to radios, DVD players, mobile phones, kettles, toasters, power tools.

Councillor Joe DeAsha, chairman of MRWA, said: “If you’ve got an electrical item that is broken or no longer used, drop it off at a local recycling centre.

“Instead of gathering dust and cluttering up your house, it’ll be stripped down and the parts recycled.”

Many electrical items such as mobile phones, computer consoles and PDAs contain valuable materials.

Precious finite metals, those which have a more limited supply, include gold, silver, copper and indium, used in liquid crystal displays. These are valuable in the recycling process and can be reused in new products.

HWRCs are one of the few places householders can dispose of their electrical items.

The bag giveaway scheme is being delivered by MRWA’s contractor Veolia Environmental Services.

Alex Paterson, director of Veolia Environmental Services Merseyside and Halton, said: “Small electrical items are commonly seen in the residual waste and in the kerbside dry recyclable containers.

“This means they do not get recycled and may end up in landfill. The blue bag will provide an easy way to collect and recycle these items and therefore improve recycling rates on Merseyside.”