Staff, students and the University have all helped to raise awareness of the importance of recycling electrical equipment.
This year has seen another great success with huge quantities of e-waste collected, saving landfill and providing valuable recyclable material which can be turned back into new products.
Toby Balson, University of Cambridge Environmental Officer
More than 20 tonnes of e-waste was collected at an annual recycling event in Cambridge as university staff, local residents, businesses, colleges and students came out in force to recycle their broken or unwanted electrical items.
The annual e-waste recycling event is organised to raise awareness of the need to recycle electronic equipment and was held this year on 11 and 12 of March at the University of Cambridge’s Sidgwick Site.
For the fourth year running, the event was hosted by the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Business Improvement District (BID), Cambridge City Council, and European Recycling Platform (ERP).
The four partners work hard to promote the annual initiative and, to date, the four “spring clean” events have amassed nearly 100 tonnes of broken or unwanted electronics for recycling.
All items will be treated in the UK to recover the metals and plastics which they contain, and the recovered materials will be sent on to manufacturers and used to make new products.
Toby Balson, University of Cambridge Environmental Officer, said: “The University is always pleased to support this event, and this year has seen another great success with huge quantities of e-waste collected, saving landfill and providing valuable recyclable material which can be turned back into new products.”
Jas Lally, Head of Refuse and Environment at Cambridge City Council, said: “I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all residents and businesses that took part for making the event such a success. The weight equivalent of approximately 20 family cars was collected and this proves how popular this event has become in the community. It also highlights the importance of recycling e-waste items that cannot be placed in regular bins.”
ERP offered everyone who attended the event the opportunity to win £250 worth of vouchers from a local bicycle store by entering a new competition called Selfieee. The competition is open until 30 April 2015. More details can be found here: www.facebook.com/erpuk/app_218644431644050
Nationwide Metal Recycling Ltd provided the logistics for the event, supporting the public by unloading equipment from vehicles.