Newcastle Council, today announces that with support from the local community they’ve successfully collected 7,828 small electricals, equalling 15.7 tonnes, as part of the small electrical recycling service which was launched in January 2024.
Due to the overwhelming success of the trial and the community's commitment to sustainability, the service is now set to continue into 2025.
Most households in the city can recycle their small electricals including toasters, kettles, sandwich makers, hairdryers or irons simply by booking a free doorstep collection or by dropping them off at their local recycling centre or recycling points in libraries. Residents can simply book a collection online and then leave their recycling in a carrier bag at their doorstep ready for collection.
Cllr Alex Hay, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, Newcastle City Council said: “The campaign has highlighted Newcastle’s strong commitment to recycling, proving that when the process is straightforward and accessible, residents are eager to take part. This initiative serves as a powerful example of how community-driven efforts, backed by local authorities, can create meaningful progress toward a more sustainable future.”
"Newcastle has proven that small electrical recycling is important to the area and its residents. We are delighted with how engaged and supportive the local community has been and how the investment from the Electrical Recycling Fund has enabled such a huge number of items to be recycled by this project. As e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream, we hope to continue to see a rise in the amount of electricals recycled across the UK” said Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus.”
This achievement is part of the small electricals recycling service trial, funded by Material Focus, which has encouraged residents to recycle their old electricals through doorstep collections and popular pop-up recycling events. All the items collected were recycled with Gap based in Gateshead, again reducing the environmental impact on the scheme as items are not transported out of the area.
This is one of over 60 UK projects funded by Material Focus, the not for profit leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. Newcastle joined 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. The projects that have been funded by Material Focus include a variety of recycling methods, from kerbside collections to more drop-off points in schools, community centres, and bring banks. Overall, there will be over 400 new collection points plus kerbside collections for 3 million residents - together helping 10 million UK residents 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. On average there are at least 30 electricals hidden away in drawers in UK homes, a total of 880 million items across the UK - with a simple repair many could be donated or sold to people who could put them to good use. And yet 39% of people bin electricals, rather than recycle or reuse them leading to over 100,000 tonnes of electricals thrown away every year. The aim of these projects is to overcome these issues by making it easier to repair, donate or recycle electricals.
To find your nearest recycling point search recycle your electricals