ILM Highland announces new WEEE service

As part of its ‘Recycle Your Electricals’ project, social enterprise Material Focus will collaborate with charity ILM Highland to provide residents in the North of Scotland with 10 new collection containers for donating unwanted small electrical appliances.

The project will aim to collect 24,000 unwanted items of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and restore or refurbish 1,200 of these to sell back to residents at affordable prices.

ILM Highland, which has been operating across the region for 26 years, provides WEEE reuse and repair services and funds home improvement programmes for vulnerable residents, including elderly and disabled people and veterans across the Ross-shire and Sutherland community.

The charity will play a key role in the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, as it will safely collect electricals from donation containers, wipe data from devices, and clean and test equipment before making it available in its shop for locals to purchase.

Any profits from the refurbished electricals will go towards the ILM Highland home improvement programme.

Martin Macleod, CEO at ILM Highland, said: “We were keen to get behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign and make it easier for Highland residents to declutter, donate to a local good cause and do their bit to save the planet.

“It’s estimated that every household in the UK has around £620 worth of electronics sitting unused. These could provide a lifeline for someone unable to buy new, and for those who are looking to buy second hand to protect our environment. Even broken items can be utilised in unexpected ways, with components being recycled in various ways.”

As well as helping to reduce electrical waste, the project will create a job for a Recycling Operative and save around 6,800 kg in CO2 emissions.

Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus, said: “This project is vital to ensuring that we make good use of our old electricals. Whether they are re-used or recycled, these items contain valuable materials that will otherwise be lost forever.

“Our research has shown that in the UK we are hoarding over 527 million small electrical items, an average of 20 per household, which is why we have recently launched our Recycle Your Electricals campaign. We are delighted to be working with ILM Highland, who is one of a number of new reuse projects that we are funding in the UK. So whether you are at home or work, please hunt out your old electricals and donate them to benefit your community.”

Alongside its various local initiatives, Material Focus is also inviting UK residents across the country to carry out their own ‘Little Spring Clean’ as part of its Recycle Your Electricals campaign. This entails ‘dehoarding’ small unwanted electricals and taking them to a local authority site for recycling.