Learn More About Our Role in Helping Recycle Electrical Equipment & Batteries
1. What's This?
With effect from July 2007, the UK’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations require that all producers of electrical equipment are now obliged to pay for these items to be recycled when they become waste. These regulations also require that all retailers both actively assist in delivering a UK wide WEEE collection infrastructure and encourage the participation of consumers in recycling electronic equipment.
So that you can get your waste electrical goods recycled, we have contributed towards a national fund to assist local councils to further develop their existing waste electronics collection facilities, which will in turn allow producers of this equipment to meet their obligations. To remind consumers to recycle, all electrical items sold now carry the 'crossed out wheeled bin' symbol.
Not all council sites are suitable to collect all types of waste electrical goods but to find out your nearest participating site (including other collection facilities that may not be operated by the council) and for advice on all aspects of recycling at home, please visit www.recycle-more.co.uk.
2. Learn More About Our Role in Helping Recycle Electrical Equipment & Batteries
Why are we involved?
Recycling facilities are now available for all customers at which you can deposit your old electrical products and batteries. This is a requirement under UK and European legislation (The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment – or WEEE – Directive). The aim of the legislation is to:
- Make good use of the materials that make up old electrical equipment by recycling rather than disposing in landfill.
- Prevent the negative environmental effects of sending often hazardous equipment to landfill.
As a conscientious business, the bitiba has chosen to group together with other retailers in joining the 'Distributor Take Back Scheme'. Through this scheme, we have paid toward the provision of improved of recycling facilities for our customers.
How does this work in practice?
Customers will be able to take any old electrical equipment and batteries to participating civic amenity sites (often known as ‘household waste recycling centres’) run by their local councils. Please remember that this equipment will be further handled during the recycling process, so please be considerate when depositing your equipment.
Funding collected through the Distributor Take Back Scheme has been distributed between all Local Authorities in the UK to ensure the provision of improved recycling facilities. Producers of these products will then ensure that deposited items are taken away and recycled.
Where to dispose of electrical equipment?
Wherever practical, old electrical waste & batteries should not be disposed of with your household waste.
You can locate your closest participating collection site at www.recycle-more.co.uk (please remember to have your postcode to hand).
Other information
UK households dispose of over 1.2 million tonnes of electrical and electronic waste every year. This is the equivalent of 150,000 double decker buses and would be enough to fill the new Wembley Stadium 6 times over.
22,000 tonnes of household batteries end up in landfills each year. That roughly equates to the weight of 3,143 elephants.
Much of the UK's electronic waste ends up in landfill sites, where toxins put communities at risk. Failure to segregate any type of recyclable material in the home will usually result in items being disposed of in a landfill site (buried in the ground in the UK) or being incinerated.
To remind you to recycle, all new electrical products & batteries as well as battery operated products are marked with a crossed out wheeled bin symbol.
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