Pink wheelie bins aim to boost electrical item recycling rates
FROM toasters and kettles to slow cookers and hoovers, it should now become easier to dump small electrical items for recycling.
As part of a new trial, Shetland Islands Council is rolling out 20 large pink wheelie bins which will sit alongside existing glass recycling points.
The pink wheelie bins will be for small electrical items which cannot be re-used or repaired, with the council using examples such as toothbrushes, toasters and kettles – although “pretty much anything with a plug” can be recycled.
The council already takes in electrical items at the Gremista waste management facility in Lerwick, but the aim of the new wheelie bin is to increase recycling rates.
Each year the council recycles about 230 tonnes of electrical equipment, or about 37 trailers of items, which are sent to a centre in Irvine.
Any electronic items that are still in good order, however, can be taken to re-use centres like scrap stores.
The SIC’s waste operations team leader Brydon Gray said bins like these have been a “real success” in other areas of Scotland.
“The bright pink bins are eye-catching, and we hope they offer more flexibility for people to recycle in their communities,” he said.
“We’ve been recycling electrical items in Shetland for several years and a huge number of items are brought to the waste management facility at Gremista. But we want to capture more.
“Pretty much anything with a plug can be recycled. From stereos to slow cookers, vacuum cleaners to washing machines.
“These smaller bins will hopefully mean we can capture more of the goods that end up in people’s black bags which go on to the incinerators.
“We continue to offer a bulky uplift service where folk can pay for bigger items to be collected. If the trial proves to be a success, the council will look to expand the service to other areas.”
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