In an effort to tackle waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), Croydon Council yesterday (12 December), announced that it has installed five containers capable of accepting small electrical appliances at neighbourhood recycling centres across Croydon.
The centres are now able to accept small items such as kettles, hairdryers, irons, calculators and shavers, as well as domestic batteries and energy efficient light bulbs for recycling. Five more WEEE collection points will become available in early 2013.
Current facilities are available at:
- Lion Green Car Park, Coulsdon
- Co-op, Sanderstead
- Ashburton Car Park, Pagehurst Road
- Forestdale Car Park, Selsdon Park Road
- Central Parade, New Addington
In conjunction with waste management company Veolia, the items collected at these points will be ‘separated for re-use and recycling’, to divert as much WEEE as possible from landfill.
However, the new recycling points will be unable to accept large WEEE, such as televisions, fridges, computers and washing machines, which must be taken to dedicated household reuse and recycling centres. These are located at:
- Factory Lane, West Croydon
- Fishers Farm, New Addington
- Purley Oaks, Purley
Cabinet member for Highways and the Environmental Services, Councillor Phil Thomas, said: “Over a lifetime each person will go through an average of 3.3 tonnes of electrical waste, so it’s really important to recycle all old electrical items rather than throwing them in the bin.
"Providing these collection points will make it much easier for people to recycle small electrical items, help to keep valuable materials out of landfill and generate more resources for manufacturing industries.”
Veolia Environmental Services Waste Manager for Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Clement Gaubert, added: “We are pleased to extend our partnership with Croydon Council by offering residents an easier way to recycle their unwanted small electrical items. The new containers will also help to increase recycling in Croydon and divert more WEEE from landfill."
The recycling points come amidst a larger push in recycling efforts across the borough, as earlier this year, Croydon announced that it would be enforcing compulsory recycling to help improve the council’s performance rates.
Under the crackdown, those found to be persistently refusing to recycle will be sent on a 12-week process of ‘personal advice and reminder letters’ in order to encourage them to recycle or could be fined £80, with court proceedings undertaken as a last resort.
In order to encourage efficient recycling, anyone found dumping electronics besides or next to the new small WEEE bins, could be issued with a maximum fine of £5000.
Read more about waste and recycling in Croydon
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