On International e-waste Day this Friday, 'Recycle Your Electricals' is urging visitors to Merry Hill to declutter their homes of end of life electricals and bring them to the centre for free recycling.

Over a third of UK households hold onto at least one redundant small electrical appliance that has the potential to be recycled. That’s a staggering 459,000 small appliances in the Dudley area alone.

The stark reality is that many small electrical's end up hoarded away in our homes, out of sight and mind and their precious materials lost or worse still, discarded in the household waste bin and not being recycled.

According to UK research commissioned by REPIC, UK households are holding on to more IT equipment than any other small appliances and gadgets. A staggering 11.7 million laptops that either definitely no longer work, or the owner doesn’t know if they work and 9.2 million Tablets, both featured in the five most hoarded items in first and third place respectively.
 
This year International E-Waste Day is focussed on those small electrical appliances that we no longer use but keep in drawers or cupboards, under the slogan 'Recycle it all, no matter how small'. The people of Dudley are being encouraged to look for any small electrical appliances that are no longer working and take advantage of a temporary collection point that is being established at the Merry Hill centre.

Opening on Friday 14th October, and available during the UK’s Recycle Week (17th - 23rd October) visitors to Merry Hill will be able to drop items off at the centre's collection point on the lower mall near to the Customer Services Desk for reuse and recycling. Jonathan Poole, Centre Manager at Merry Hill said:

“We’re delighted to support International E-Waste Day with this initiative, located right at the heart of the centre. The e-waste collection point is another way we’re helping visitors and our retailer community to reduce and recycle.”
 
Items that can be put into the Merry Hill collection point include small household appliances (e.g. kettles, irons and toasters), IT equipment such as laptops, mice and printers, consumer electronics and tools, including electric drills and small electrical gardening tools. Any items to be recycled should have their cables and plugs, have any removable batteries taken out and be free of any packaging.