04/07/2012 - Permalink

New electrical recycling banks are proving to be a real hit

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During May 2012 Shropshire residents recycled over a tonne of small electrical items via the new network of bring banks around the county – which equates to hundreds of individual items.

People can recycle anything with a battery or a plug at these sites, but the containers can only accommodate the smaller electrical items such as kettles, toasters, DVD players, cameras, calculators, hair straighteners, irons, remote controls, alarm clocks, sat navs, mobile phones and chargers.   Larger electrical items like fridges and TVs need to be taken to a main Household Recycling Centre.

The following amounts have been collected across the county during May:

  • Crowgate Business Park in Bishops Castle – 150kg
  • Guildhall, Frankwell Quay in Shrewsbury – 120kg
  • Morrisons, Oswald Road in Oswestry – 120kg
  • Church Street Car Park in Prees – 100kg
  • Stans Store, Overton Road in St. Martins – 100kg
  • RAF Cosford Sports Centre in Cosford – 80kg
  • Red Barn, Longden Road in Shrewsbury – 80kg
  • Morrisons, Harlescott in Shrewsbury – 70kg
  • ASDA, Old Potts Way in Shrewsbury – 70kg
  • Shirehall, Abbey Foregate in Shrewsbury – 70kg
  • South Shropshire Leisure Centre in Ludlow – 70kg
  • Innage Lane Car Park in Bridgnorth – 70kg
  • Sainsburys, Meole Brace in Shrewsbury- 60kg
  • Crown Inn Car Park in Albrighton – 60kg
  • Cross Street/Talbot Street car park in Ellesmere – 60kg
  • Callow Road Community Centre in Minsterely – 40kg 

Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for waste management, said:

“We hope that we can improve on this promising start to the new service and recycle even more electrical items in the coming months.  This all helps to keep waste out of landfill which saves taxpayers money and protects the environment.”

Further information

This new service is provided by Veolia, the council’s contractor, at no cost to the taxpayer, with electrical manufacturers and retailers being legally obliged to fund recycling schemes.  All material is taken to EMR Ltd. in Wolverhampton to be recycled.

  • On average each person in the UK buys three new electrical items every year.
  • Each year the UK uses one million tonnes of electrical equipment – equivalent in weight to 150,000 double-decker buses!
  • Over 27 million mobile phones were sold in the UK over the past year which will lead to 3,500 tonnes of electrical waste.