New campaign urges country to clear out old electrical waste

THE public is being urged to clear out their homes for free in a national waste recycling campaign which starts today.

Some 84% of Irish homes have hoarded broken or unused electrical items, with the average having 15 to 20 broken or unused electrical items, research by iReach shows. Hoarded electrical items include kettles, plugs and cables, mobile phones, TVs, microwaves, laptops, power tools and vacuum cleaners.

The Government is collaborating with MyWaste.ie and the two national compliance schemes European Recycling Platform (ERP) Ireland and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling (WEEE) Ireland in the roll-out.

The aim is to encourage people to ‘clear out their homes’, and to get the message out there that recycling electrical waste will not cost them a cent.

The Recycle your Electrical Waste for Free! awareness campaign aims to inform and educate people on what items can be recycled and advise them of the multiple civic amenity sites and participating electrical retailers across Ireland. Ossian Smyth, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy, said it was important to remind the public that they can return their electrical waste for free recycling at hundreds of drop-off points across the country. ‘This campaign demonstrates our commitment to working together to raise public awareness of the importance of responsibly recycling electrical waste. Electrical products contain valuable raw materials, and recycling these materials will help Ireland transition to a circular economy, where waste is minimised.’

The research found that 30% of households store old, broken or unused electrical items in garden sheds, 25% hoard them in drawers and 16% keep them in the attic.

ERP Ireland chief Martin Tobin said: ‘All electrical items – including smaller ones like mobile phones, laptops, toasters and plugs – can be recycled.’