This is why the WEEE sector has come together this year, to help educate consumers about the need to recycle their waste electronic items. In a collaborative partnership between Centillions, DHL, ERP, Overton Recycling, Repic, SWEEEP, Valpak, Wastepack and W&S, the sector is helping to fund a TV advertising campaign that will raise awareness of electronic recycling. The project will be using the Waste & Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP) ‘Recycle Now’ branding and will also receive advice from WRAP to make sure its message is appropriate for consumers.
that they should recycle, not bin, their old electronics. Indeed it is also the most wasteful period in the year – with around three million tonnes, the equivalent to a tenth of the waste produced in a year, accumulated over just a few days.
The result a good awareness campaign can achieve is demonstrated by the smoking ban, which was actually introduced on the same day as the WEEE Directive. Three and a half years on, very few people would consider lighting up in a restaurant or shopping centre, however most wouldn’t think they were doing anything wrong by putting their old radio or electric razor into their household rubbish.
Government and industry need to correct this lack of awareness and communicate a strong recycling message to consumers that they need to recycle these items. However, hand in hand with this communication requirement is the need to provide easy access to recycling points. Very few people would consider making a special trip to the local recycling centre with their old hairdryer but if they could recycle it somewhere where they go regularly, e.g. the supermarket, or even through kerbside collections, then recycling rates would increase dramatically.
Public perception is critical for greater participation. We have seen too many instances where householders are turned off recycling as they have little faith that the materials they spend time rinsing and separating actually end up being put to good use. Negative media coverage of Local Authorities landfilling recyclate is often a primary reason why some don’t bother to recycle. Furthermore, poor exporting practices and the resulting exposé TV programmes showing young Indian or African children stripping cables and mercury from TVs and computers means that the public is left feeling betrayed and complacent.
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But for us to be able to ensure the feedstock of small WEEE and achieve the potentially high targets of the WEEE directive for 2016, it is paramount people know that there is an obligation to recycle used electronics. We have an extremely gadget-driven society. Our houses are abundant with electronics and we often upgrade our electronics to benefit from the latest model’s offering. Therefore, electronics is one waste stream that is only going to increase and it is imperative that householders are aware of their obligations and that we have in place convenient ways to recycle this waste. Kerbside collections are the easiest and most convenient way to ensure participation, with bring-banks at local shopping centres the next most preferable method. We can’t rely on people making particular trips to their local household recycling centres. We believe there are three key elements to ensure a high level of participation – awareness, education and convenience.
All three have to work together in order for us to stand a chance at meeting the possible 85% recycling target, from almost a standing start. Kerbside collections of WEEE need to be nationwide, with a strong awareness campaign to ensure that recycling of WEEE becomes part of our culture and is talked about in schools, by retailers and by councils. A comprehensive and multifaceted campaign is crucial to achieve the objectives at the heart of the Directive.
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