Find out if your road is in the small electrical items recycling collections trial in Reading

Details about the trial below. Click here for a list of roads included in the trial.

Small Electrical Items Recycling – Collections Trial

A trial scheme has been launched to collect and recycle residents’ broken or unwanted small electrical items free of charge on their recycling collection day.

About the trial

Collections start week commencing 5th October 2015.

17,000 properties which are on two collection rounds will take part. Please see list of roads on pdf doc.

After the six month trial we plan to extend collections of small electrical items to the whole borough in March 2016.

Which properties can take part in the trial?

Only properties with a red recycling bin or box in these roads can take part in the trial. Residents whose properties are part of the trial will receive a special bin hanger leaflet on their bin with information about the trial. The bin hanger leaflets will be delivered from Friday 25th September on their recycling collection day.

How will residents on the trial recycle their small electrical items?

Residents are asked to put their electrical items in an untied carrier bag (not black sacks) and put them next to their red recycling bin or box by 7am on their recycling collection day.

How will the crews collect the items?

The crew will collect the electrical items and put them in special cages on the collection vehicles.

During the first month of the trial we will have an additional ‘mop up’ crew who will go out and collect any items the crews weren’t able to collect should the cages on the collection vehicles become full.

If residents put out the wrong sort of electrical items or electrical items which are too big we will leave a sticker on the item to let the resident know and which advises them to take the items to the Household Waste Recycling Centre (the tip) for free or to arrange a bulky waste collection for a fee.

Residents with electrical items which are still working are encouraged to think about re-using them by giving them to someone who could use them, selling it, advertising it on Freecycle or Freegle or donating them to charity.

Which electrical items can be put out for collection?

We can collect small electrical and electronic items that have a plug or use batteries. The maximum size item we can collect is 30cm x 24cm (about the size of a standard jug kettle or a 2 slice toaster) as items larger than this will not fit into the storage cages on the collection vehicles.

Residents are advised to recycle larger electrical items by taking them to Household Waste Recycling Centre (the tip) for free or to arrange a bulky waste collection for a fee.

Examples of items we can collect:

· Kettles

· Toasters (2 slice size only)

· Irons

· Hair dryers

· Straighteners

· Clippers

· Clocks

· Calculators

· Torches

· Remote controls

· Cameras

· Chargers

· Radios

· CD and MP3 players

· Small electronic toys

· Power tools

This list is by no means definitive.

The items do not need to be in working order. Residents are advised to leave any cables and plugs attached, remove any batteries and remove any personal data.

Which electrical items should not be put out for collection?

We can’t collect electrical items larger than 30cm x 24cm (about the size of a standard jug kettle or a 2 slice toaster) as they won’t fit into the storage cage on the collection vehicle.

We also cannot take:

· TVs

· computer monitors

· items with screens (laptops, notebooks, tablets…etc)

· fluorescent tubes

· light bulbs

Residents are advised to recycle larger electrical items by taking them to Household Waste Recycling Centre (the tip) for free or to arrange a bulky waste collection for a fee.

How can residents not taking part in the trial recycle their electrical items?

Residents can take electrical and electronic items to the Household Waste Recycling Centre (the tip) to be recycled. It is planned to extend the collections to all properties in the borough with wheeled bins in March 2016.

Why do we want residents to recycle their electrical items?

Unwanted electrical and electronic items contain really valuable raw materials which can be recycled and used to make new products

How will the small electrical items be recycled?

The items are taken to a reprocessor where they are broken up and the different metals and plastics recycled and used to make new products.

How are the collections being funded?

The scheme is funded by the Distributor Takeback Scheme. This is a scheme which retailers can join to meet their obligations under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations to ensure that their customers can reuse or recycle their broken or unwanted electrical items and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.