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Recycling electrical and electronic products – what you need to know
On 1 July 2007, new government regulations called the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations came into force to encourage people to arrange collection or recycling of old electrical products, rather than throwing them away.
Q: Why should waste electrical goods be recycled?
A: Recycling unwanted electrical products is better for the environment. The amount of electrical waste, from hairdryers to washing machines, that is thrown away is increasing by around 5% each year. This means that in one year the amount of electrical waste created in the UK could fill Wembley Stadium 6 times!
Over 75% of waste electrical goods end up in landfill, where lead and other toxins contained in electrical goods can cause soil and water contamination. This can have a very harmful effect on the natural habitat, wildlife and also human health. When situated near populated areas these toxins can cause problems to communities as their water and soil is polluted.
Many of the electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled. Recycling items helps to save natural resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending waste electrical goods to landfill.
Q: How can I recycle my old electrical and electronic products?
A: Currys offer free in store take back so you are able to take any products to any of our stores. It doesn't matter if you didn't purchase the equipment in one of our stores - we'll still take it back.
Our home delivery team can collect your old kitchen appliances or TVs when they deliver your new one. All we ask is that you disconnect it before we arrive, however if you have purchased our connection service, don’t worry we will disconnect your old appliance for you. If you’ve got a refrigeration product please make sure that it’s fully defrosted
Q: How will I know whether the new products I buy can be recycled?
A: All new electrical and electronic products sold now carry the ‘crossed out wheelie bin’ logo to help you identify which products are recyclable.
You do not need to have purchased new equipment to be able to recycle your old appliances.
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Q: What do I need to do to ensure my old appliances are ready for you to take away?
- If you have not purchased our connection service you will have to ensure your old appliance must be empty and safely disconnected by a qualified individual where appropriate, i.e. only CORGI approved engineers should disconnect gas and dual fuel cookers. If you have purchased our connection service, don’t worry we will disconnect your old appliance for you
- If you have a fridge refrigeration product it must be fully defrosted and free of water
- If you have purchased a laundry product we will not be able to disconnect if it is hardwired into a fused spur, tap connections are seized up, it is unable to be moved or in moving, damage could occur to the floor covering
- We currently do not offer a connection service for Integrated appliances. If you would like your old product removed it must be disconnected and removed from the kitchen housing
Q: What if my new appliance is coming direct from the manufacturer (Supplier Home Delivery), will I still get free collection?
A: Unfortunately we can not offer free collection on Supplier Home Delivery products though they are still able to take your old one away for a charge (varies by Supplier).
Q: What happens to old appliances?
A: The products are sent to our recycling centre and around 85% of the materials are recycled.
Many electrical products contain a small proportion of non-recyclable materials or are returned with non-recyclable materials. For example; a vacuum cleaner is often returned with its bag or the contents of the dust that it collected in its useful life. A fridge or freezer might be discarded with food still contained within it. Whatever the product, best efforts are made to recycle as much of it’s content as possible once the product arrives at the recycling centre. The current overall recycling rate is 85% and we are aiming to improve this to 90%.
Q: How long does it take from arrival at your depot to being back on the shelf as a new product?
A: This period of time taken to process the WEEE at the factory is relatively short (e.g. within 24 hours). However, there are a number of factors thereafter that affect how long it might take before the recycled steel for example is fully recycled into new steel and thereafter into the manufacturing process as part of a new product. A period of 2 to 3 months before this takes place is very much dependent on supply and demand.
we're doing even more
As part of the DSG international plc, we at Currys are committed to achieving high standards of environmental management:
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We use 100% recycled plastic in our carrier bags |
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We recycle more than 700,000 products a year |
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We are actively working with the Carbon Trust to cut carbon emissions |
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We’re working with the charity Waterwise to promote water efficiency in appliances |
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We’ve already bought 40 double-decker trailers for our home delivery network –that means 18 fewer delivery journeys each day and a saving of 950,000 litres of diesel |
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We have installed more than 3,000 water-saving devices into staff toilets, saving a litre of water at every flush |
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