Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE for short) is mass produced all over the world. Sadly the UK are no exception with many of us getting new technology on a frequent basis, the idea of having the new iPhone (other brands are also available!!) is something that makes customers queue for hours on end to be the first person to get their hands on it (remember that poor guy from Australia who dropped his long queued for iPhone 6 live on tv, ouch!!).
But why are we in this constant state of wanting the next best thing? I mean I’m no saint here, I’m just the same as everyone else, with my last attempt of not buying a new tv when mine had broken ended up with me buying new living room furniture to suit our smaller older tv (much to my husband’s confusion as that cost more than a new tv…sorry!!)
I think it’s all down to what happens around us, when I was around 8 in school and my friend got her own phone (yes her OWN phone, that was a big deal in my day!) everyone thought she was the coolest and wanted one too, much to all of our parents dismay.
We are constantly being shown all of these new technologies, which I have to admit are pretty amazing but we are in a buying culture, in the past no-one has thought about the repercussions of the technology that you have left, most of the time still working perfectly.
In recent times there has been lots of changes in the purchasing and disposal of WEEE, companies are now required to offer their customers a way of disposing of their older equipment when upgrading. WEEE is not allowed to go into household waste and local recycling centres and tips have segregated areas for items to be taken to.
Here at the University of Kent we recycle all of our WEEE with the help of two of our contractors. Sweeep based in Sittingbourne take electrical waste such as computers, tv’s, laptops, monitors, tablets etc. They don’t only reuse the materials to make new products but also clear all data and information for us.
Other WEEE such as toasters, kettles, microwaves, fridge/freezers, ovens, washing machines to name a few are recycled by another contractor Lings. Both supply us with accurate data on the waste recycled and follow all legislation to carry out these specific recycling services for us. So far this year we have recycled 24.57 tonnes of WEEE, that’s equivalent to a small herd of Asian elephants (that’s pretty incredible I know!).
To recycle WEEE on campus is really easy, all staff have to do is complete one of our electronic disposal forms and send to estates-recycling@kent.ac.uk where we will arrange to either come and collect the items or if they are in large quantities our contractor will come to you!
For students we ask you to talk to your accommodation reception about arranging for them to keep the WEEE for you until we can come to collect them!
See it is really is easy! And in the meantime if you have any questions about WEEE recycling or any other recycling for that matter please don’t hesitate to drop me an email or send a tweet!