Recycling your electrical items just became easier! You can now recycle your old and broken small electricals from home if you live in the Rother, Wealden or Hastings area.
Recycle your electricals from home
Most of us have lots of small electricals at home that need recycling. For example, do you have one or two old mobile phones at home as ‘spares’? Or do you have an old kettle or hairdryer which hasn’t worked for ages taking up space in a cupboard?
The good news is that everything with a plug, battery or cable can now be recycled. Simply place your old items into a standard-size carrier bag, and place on top of either your waste or recycling bin on collection day. Please make sure to remove batteries where possible and place these in a separate bag. It’s important that these are separated as they can cause fires (see below).
Residents in Rother, Wealden and Hastings are already recycling over 1 tonne from the kerbside each month. That’s the equivalent of 7,500 irons each year! And we can all recycle more.
You can recycle things like:
- Smartphones, smart watches and charging cables.
- Kettles, toasters, blenders and other small kitchen appliances.
- Electric shavers, electric toothbrushes and hair dryers.
- Laptops, tablets and small games consoles.
- Small speakers and remote controls.
- Electronic tools.
- Toys.
- Sports equipment.
For larger items please continue to take these to your nearest household waste and recycling site.
Batteries – the hot topic
Batteries are an explosive problem for waste and recycling centres. With on average one fire every day at centres in the UK, the Environmental Services Association (ESA), says too many batteries are going into either recycling bins or black rubbish bags, where they are easily damaged by sorting equipment and start to burn. In 2019 there were six fires at depots in Sussex because of batteries.
This summer, a mobile phone battery caused a collection vehicle fire in Wealden. This caused service disruption and crew members were lucky to escape without injury.
Never place batteries into your waste or recycling bin. Instead, recycle your batteries by placing them into a separate carrier bag and placing them on top of you bin. If you live in the Lewes or Eastbourne area please take batteries to your local household waste recycling site. Some supermarkets also collect them.
Why recycling electricals is important
Did you know that old electrical items are one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK (and in the world)? Last year over 50 million tonnes were thrown away globally.
When we recycle our old electricals, we’re giving a new lease of life to precious metals like gold, copper, steel and aluminium. These valuable materials can then be recycled and turned into everything from bicycles to life saving equipment, solar panels, playgrounds, to new electronics.
For example, the resources gained from recycling batteries are the very same materials being mined in other parts of the world.
To help protect finite materials we must all reduce, reuse and recycle.
What happens after it has been collected?
Once taken back to depots, small electricals are collected by MDJ Light Bros in Lewes for reprocessing and recycling on its site at Greystone Quarry facility. There, the items are separated into the various different components for recycling. The separated components are then sold to customers depending on demand and market conditions.
Household batteries collected at the kerbside are taken to a facility in Garforth, Leeds, where they are bulked and sent on for recycling. The bulked batteries are taken to one of two specialist facilities owned by Revatech in Belgium. Here at either the Monsin or Engis facility, the batteries are sorted by type before going through mechanical treatment to crush and screen the material. The material goes through a chemical treatment process before being recycled. Base metals and plastics are recovered from the 4,500t of batteries received annually from several European countries.
What else can I recycle from home?
Find out what you can and can’t recycle from your home with our ultimate guide to recycling.
Want to know what happens to your recycling in East Sussex? Find out with our animation!
If you live in Lewes and Eastbourne areas please take you electricals to your nearest household waste and recycling site.
For collection queries please contact your local district or borough council.
Find more information about recycling electricals on your district or borough’s website:
Find out more about the Recycle Your Electricals campaign.
If you don’t live in the Rother, Wealden or Hastings areas, have larger items or you use communal bins, you can find out where you can recycle your electricals here: Recycle your electricals
Thank you for recycling!
This is really good news but can we be sure that they will be recycled and not just put into the lorry. Is there a separate compartment for them in the lorry?
Hi Jill, Yes there is a separate compartment for them. Best wishes, Laura
Why not Eastbourne and Lewes. Can’t get into Local tip without queuing, more greenhouse gases. They won’t let me in with my private van( not commercial as I am retired). Time you included us….
Level up East Suuse
Hi John, Eastbourne and Lewes use a different waste contractor to Hastings, Rother and Wealden. It would be up to Eastbourne and Lewes councils whether they can put a similar collection service in place. At out tips, vans and vehicles over 2m high are permitted on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only. Please bring proof of address (driver’s licence or recent utility bill) and you will be subject to new trade waste inspections. It is likely you’ll need to queue to get into the tips at the moment, this is because of social distancing measures on our sites. Best wishes, Laura
Hi Laura, thanks for your article, this is really good news. I have a printer I want to recycle. I’ve read the list and links but can’t see them listed. Do you know if I can?
Thanks.
Hi Elizabeth, I suspect a printer will be too large, unfortunately. We ask that items can fit into a standard-size carrier bag. This is so that we can be sure the items fit in the separate compartment that the collections vehicles have. Any larger items need to be taken to a household waste recycling site. Best wishes, Laura
Thanks Laura. I thought this might be the case. I don’t have a car at present so getting to larger recycling point isn’t easy currently. Many thanks, Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth, sorry about that. If the printer works you may be able to give it away via Freecycle or a charity and they will collect. Best of luck, Laura
We are still unable to persuade our collectors to take batteries despite assurances!
The collectors just put the carrier on the floor and leave it.
This happened four times over an eight week period and we are self-isolating, so cannot visit the recycling or supermarket as you advise.
Hi Martyn, sorry to hear this. The collection system is very popular and on some days the collection vehicle is filling up very quickly. Please leave your small WEEE items out for collection until the end of the day because other resources are being deployed each day to complete the work. If your items cannot be collected then please try again next week. If you have presented your items more than twice then please let your local council know so they can take action and ensure your items are collected as soon as possible. Best wishes, Laura
Our compost bin gets rats….please tell us how we can recycle our food waste. Thank you
Hi Anna, there are some resources here about composting, including tips for avoiding pests: https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/environment/rubbishandrecycling/whatyoucando/composting/ Best wishes, Laura
We stopped putting bread crusts in the compost because they attracted rats. No problem since. All vegetable waste goes in there. We do get the odd badger rooting around but they don’t seem to do any harm.
Please tell the bin men it’s hit or miss if they take them
Hi, thanks for your comment. The collection system is very popular and on some days the collection vehicle is filling up very quickly. Please leave your small WEEE items out for collection until the end of the day because other resources are being deployed each day to complete the work. If your items cannot be collected then please try again next week. If you have presented your items more than twice then please let your local council know so they can take action and ensure your items are collected as soon as possible. Best wishes, Laura
You have publicised the electrical goods recycling scheme very well on Rother Alerts this week, Friday 4th December.
However, on the same day as that, we tried to recycle a hairdryer by packing in a carrier bag and putting it on the lid of the recycling bin due to be collected that day and we also labelled the bag so the collectors would be in no doubt why we had put it there. BUT the collectors emptied the bin correctly but dumped the bag with the hairdryer on our driveway!
Perhaps you need to ask the contractors to explain this scheme properly to their collection staff, who otherwise normally provide us with an efficient, cheerful service.
Hi Jean, sorry to hear that your item wasn’t collected. The collection system is very popular and on some days the collection vehicle is filling up very quickly. Please leave your small WEEE items out for collection until the end of the day because other resources are being deployed each day to complete the work. If your items cannot be collected then please try again next week. If you have presented your items more than twice then please let Rother District Council know so they can take action and ensure your items are collected as soon as possible. Best wishes, Laura
Our small electrical collection bin has been removed from the re-cycling area in Battle. Why?
Hi Corinne, the contractor that provided these bins at mini recycling points removed them. Rother District Council, Wealden District Council, Hastings Borough Council, in partnership with Biffa, have introduced a household small WEEE collection to make recycling these items even easier than before. Best wishes, Laura
Are we going to get this in Eastbourne – would be very handy for those who do not drive.
Hi Mary, Eastbourne and Lewes use a different waste contractor to Hastings, Rother and Wealden. It would be up to Eastbourne and Lewes councils whether they can implement a similar collection service in place. Best wishes, Laura
Where we are in Deanland Wood Park we do not have individual bins but communal ones in different parts of the park,would it be possible to have maybe a few bins on the park just for small electricals.
Hi Mary, This would be something for your local district or borough council to look into as they provide the bins. Best wishes, Laura