Barnet Council Eco Days set new record

Eco Days enable an organisation’s employees and members of the public to drop off their redundant or broken electrical and electronic equipment for safe, legally compliant and environmentally friendly recycling. In Barnet, collection points were set up at various locations around the Borough, including six schools and a sports stadium.

Flyers were distributed in the run up to the Eco Days to give people time to get their broken, defunct or redundant electrical and electronic equipment out of their lofts, garages and sheds to bring along to the events. Staff from Sims Recycling Solutions provided stillages, logistics and on site safety expertise so that the WEEE could be easily and safely dropped off.

Items collected included televisions, keyboards, printers, computers, scanners, mobile phones, kettles, toasters and DVD players including 215 cathode ray tubes. The equipment was sent for recycling at Sims Recycling Solutions’ state of the art WEEE recycling facility in Newport, Gwent. Once there, the WEEE was either shredded to recover precious metals for reuse in the manufacture of new products, or refurbished for reuse.

Sims Recycling Solutions’ John Fenton, said: “We are delighted with the results of the Eco Days held with Barnet Council, which have set a new record for WEEE collection under the scheme. Eco Days are becoming increasingly popular with clients in both the public and private sectors. They help reduce an organisation’s impact on the environment and promote awareness of electronics recycling among employees and members of the public. Many large organisations hold Eco Days as an integral part of delivering their corporate social responsibility objectives and enhancing their environmental credentials.”

A spokesperson for Barnet Council said: “Naturally we’re delighted that Barnet employees and residents have taken this opportunity to show their commitment to recycling and set a new record in the process. In the past there have been issues with redundant electrical equipment being left in the streets and initiatives like this help to counter that blight and keep our local neighbourhoods clean. By taking advantage of waste amnesty days, residents are able to make sure electrical goods are disposed of and recycled correctly, diverting them from ultimately ending up in landfill.”

John Fenton concluded: “We estimate that around 41 tonnes of CO2 was saved from being emitted into the atmosphere through recycling the WEEE collected at the Barnet Council Eco Days.”