St James Residents' Association

For The Residents And Workers Of St James

Thursday 7 June 2012

Delivering a good plug for recycling



Businesses, residents and schools in Northamptonshire are being urged to recycle their broken or unwanted electronics at a three-day event being held at The University of Northampton, Park Campus, Boughton Green Road, Northampton NN2 7AL.

The recycling event takes place on Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday 22 June 2012, from 7.30am to 3.30pm. The event will stay open until 7.30pm on Thursday 21 June. All types of business and household electronic waste will be accepted for free and staff will be on hand to help with unloading.

The event is being hosted by The University of Northampton, Northampton Borough Council in partnership with Enterprise, Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, Northamptonshire County Council, Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, and European Recycling Platform (ERP), as part of a drive to increase the amount of electronic waste that is recycled.


Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. More than one million tonnes of electronic goods are sold every year, but only around a third is recycled. The materials used to make electronic goods are valuable and can be used to make new products. For example, the plastic from a computer keyboard could end up in a new musical instrument, the gold from a mobile phone could be made into jewellery, and an iron contains enough steel to produce 13 steel cans.  Recycling protects the environment and stops e-waste going to landfill.

Paul Taylor, Sustainability Manager at The University of Northampton, stated: "This three-day event gives a fantastic opportunity for members of the local community to dispose of broken electrical equipment for free, while protecting the environment by stopping valuable materials going to landfill. The University fully supports this collaborative initiative to encourage the environmentally sound management of electrical waste."

Cllr Chris Millar, chairman of the Northamptonshire Waste Partnership, representing all the district, borough and county councils in Northamptonshire, said: "It is great to be promoting electrical and electronic waste recycling in the county.  This exciting event supports the partnership’s on-going commitment to diverting waste from landfills and making the environment cleaner.”

Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive of Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "We are proud to support this event, which will provide local businesses with a free means of disposing any unwanted electrical items. Not only will this benefit the companies looking to have a good clear out, it could be used as part of a wider corporate social responsibility policy and help the environment at the same time.”

Charlotte Patrick, Business Development Manager, Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, commented: "We are delighted to be involved with this fantastic event and would encourage anyone with broken, unused electronics to recycle them as part of this great initiative."
Scott Butler, ERP Managing Director, said: "Plenty of people have a broken computer gathering dust in their office, an old printer cluttering up the cupboard or an unwanted mobile lurking in a drawer. Well, now you can be free of it and benefit the environment at the same time. Bring anything with a battery or a plug on it and it will be recycled.”

All electrical waste collected will be recycled, including computers, monitors, mobile phones, video players, games consoles, microwaves, dishwashers, fridges, ovens, battery operated toys, power tools, electric kettles, televisions, electric heaters, radios, MP3 players, fluorescent and low energy light bulbs. Recycling is provided courtesy of Apple. All electronics will be sorted and treated within the UK. Computer hard drives will be shredded, rendering them unusable. However, users should ensure any sensitive data is wiped from computers prior to collection.

Key facts on e-waste:
- Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK.
- Over 1 million tonnes of electronic goods are sold every year, nearly 20kg per person.
- In 2010, over 466,000 tonnes of e-waste was collected and recycled, around 38% by weight of the EEE sold.
- The rest ended up in landfill or is still in people’s homes.
- On average, each person in the UK recycled 7.5kg of e-waste in 2010.

Visit http://www.erp-recycling.co.uk/ to find out more about these free electronic recycling days.

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St James End before 1965

St James End before 1965

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