Campaign launched encouraging people to recycle their small electricals.
‘The Recycle Your Electricals campaign’ has calculated that people in Edinburgh have over a million metres of electrical cables in their homes. These cables could run up and down the Water of Leith 25 times or go up and down Arthur's seat 3,574 times.
To combat this, the campaign has launched ‘HypnoCat’, a pink fluffy cat on a mission to persuade you to recycle your small old electrical items. The campaign has been launched as small old electricals are one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK and in the world.
- 500,000 tonnes of waste electricals are being lost through being thrown away in the UK.
- The total number of cables hoarded in UK homes (140 million) could circle the earth more than 5 times
- UK householders are hoarding 527 million small electrical items
‘HypnoCat’ will be issuing a series of rallying calls to local people including: ‘Humans of Scotland. You will not bin your electricals’. He will also play on his cat's superior powers over humans ‘Speaking of bags, go buy me a big bag of catnip’ in between the repeated mantra of ‘Recycle Your Electricals’. The fun character has been designed to build on a growing trend and love for bizarre hypnocats. ‘HynoCat’ will also be launching in other areas across the UK.
Scott Butler, Material Focus Executive Director, said:
Small old electricals are one of the fastest growing waste streams, and we are throwing away valuable materials that are lost forever. In reality, these small old, unwanted electricals contain 75% of materials that can be recycled or reused such as precious materials like gold, aluminium and steel. Through ‘HypnoCat’ and our campaign we will be providing step-by-step information on how to reuse and recycle old electricals. We want everyone to know that all old electricals - that’s everything with a plug, battery or cable - can be recycled. We are delighted to be working with Edinburgh residents to stop them throwing away their old electricals.
Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said:
Last year our team collected almost 1,500 tonnes of small electrical items, and I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to that great effort. The figures released by Material Focus show the staggering amount of electrical cables being hoarded in Edinburgh and throughout the world. I’d urge you when you are doing a clear out to consider this and recycle any small electrical items that are no longer of any use to you. You can do this by using your kerbside recycling if you have it or by taking them to your nearest recycling centre or drop off point in some shops.
Other domestic hoarding habits revealed that:
- Over a half of a million households have got 5-10 games consoles in their homes against a UK average of less than one per home
- Ever sat on the remote control? You’re not the only one; over 3 million homes are sitting on 5-15 of them, compared to a UK average of two per house
- One of the items we are holding onto longest are old unused speakers, with almost 2 million households keeping them for over a decade
- 5.8 million households (21%) are holding onto VHS players
- Similarly, cassette players are still being held on to in 4.7 million (17%) of homes
The Recycle Your Electricals Campaign is making recycling small old electricals easier than ever before by launching an information hub for the UK. A new postcode finder has launched on www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk with details of over 2,000 recycling, repair and reuse points across the UK with new collection and drop-off points will be added to the site on an ongoing basis.
Share pictures, videos and stories of the electricals that you’ve collected in a bag prior to placing them at the kerbside or taking them to your nearest recycling point on Twitter using the hashtag #RecycleYourElectricals #RethinkWhatsPossible #AskHypnocat and tagging @RecycleElectric or tag us on Facebook @RecycleYourElectricals and Instagram @RecycleYourElectricals_ .