Recycle Week is annual event held in October, it aims to raise awareness and promote the importance of recycling in our daily lives. As we continue to face environmental challenges, it is crucial for individuals and communities to take action and do our part in reducing waste and conserving resources. But recycling isn’t just something to do for one week in October. We all put our recycling outside our door each fornight, but what about those items the council don’t take.
The Big Recycling Hunt – focuses on “missed capture”: the items that can be recycled but are commonly missed in the home. We are focusing on two important aspects of recycling that often get forgotten: blister packs and electrical items. In this blog post, we’ll provide an insider’s guide on the dos and don’ts of recycling these items, so get ready to make a positive impact on our planet!
Recycling electricals and blister packs plays a crucial role in reducing landfill waste or incineration, and conserves valuable resources. These items can be recycled to create new products, reducing the need for raw materials and minimizing the environmental impact of manufacturing. Additionally, recycling these items helps prevent hazardous materials from entering the environment and reduces energy consumption.
Blister Packs Recycling Scheme
These can’t be recycled in your home recycling and are an item we get asked about most. The once successful scheme at Superdrug changed from TerraCycle and now local stores don’t seem happy accepting items.
Aldi in the UK have come to the rescue, taking up the mantel working with TerraCycle. The Aldi Blister Pack Recycling Programme launched as a trail on the 9th October and runs nationwide. It is expected to help Aldi assess customer demand for the recycling solution. Unfortunately it isn’t as straightforward as the old Superdrug scheme, where you could drop them in store.
How do I take part?
- If you don’t have one you will need to create a TerraCycle account and join the Aldi Blister Pack Envelope Recycling Programme. You need to join as an Individual on this programme. – LINK
- You can then request a freepost label.
- You can use this label to return empty blister packs via any Royal Mail Post Office or post box in an envelope with the freepost shipping label
- You can send a maximum of 30 medicine blister packs per pack. You can register for up to 2 freepost labels and so can send up to 60 empty medicine blister packs to TerraCycle per month.
- Once collected, the blister packs are cleaned and separated by material type. TerraCycle contracts third-party facilities to recycle the material.
If we want Aldi to develop the scheme into stores, we need to show them we have the demand and so start by getting involved and sharing the information with your friends and family. We will look at whether we can arrange any merged household collections if people are interested please let us know.
Recycling your Electricals
Discarded electricals are one of the fastest-growing sources of waste in the world and the UK. We discard 155,000 tonnes of electricals every year, instead of repairing or recycling them. That creates e-waste which poses a major threat to the environment and to human health.
It’s important to understand the guidelines for recycling electrical items to ensure that they can be disposed of correctly.
Use the recycleyourelectricals.org web site and check your address.
In Chester you can take them to the Chester Recycling Centre on Bumpers Lane. But do follow the following tips first.
- Remove any batteries from electrical devices before recycling them. Batteries should be recycled separately due to their potential environmental impact.
- Don’t attempt to dismantle electrical items yourself, especially if you’re not familiar with the process. This can be dangerous and it’s best to leave it to professionals who know how to handle these items safely.
- Lastly, don’t dispose of electrical items in regular waste bins or landfill. This can have detrimental effects on the environment and pose potential risks.
By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your electrical items are being properly recycled and reducing their impact on the environment.
Is ‘FastTech’ the new Fast Fashion?
‘FastTech’ describes cheap, everyday electricals that often have a short lifespan – meaning they may be seen as disposable even when they’re not. Almost half a billion FastTech items were thrown away last year, and a shocking 90% of them were discarded soon after being bought. From fairy lights and fans, to handheld vacuums and single-use vapes – inside every one of those products are valuable materials that could have been recovered and reused. Like anything else with a plug, battery or cable, FastTech can be recycled. More and more people are discovering how easy it is to donate or recycle theirs. Use the link above to find your nearest drop-off point.
Why do we need a new phone each year
Each year, a staggering 5.3 billion mobile phones are discarded globally, with the UK set to become the largest producer per capita of electrical waste by 2024. And yet, despite the vast amount of tech at our disposal, the UK has a deep digital divide: while ‘the average’ person has two unused phones at home, one in twenty UK households lack internet access. Mobile phones contain a lot of valuable materials (including bronze, silver and gold) that can be used again and again. Recycling means that new materials don’t need to be dug up; saving energy, carbon emissions and reduces the destruction caused by mining.
Our friends at Hubbub have worked with Virgin Media O2 on a new report.
What ever you might think, Gen Z is the most likely generation to take positive actions on electrical waste. In the last two years Gen Z were also most likely to get their phones fixed at a repair shop or café (46%), receive a second-hand phone from a family member or friend (44%) and have bought a refurbished phone (45%). However, our research also shows that 45% of young people have never recycled a phone, and 38% have disposed of theirs in general waste. Read the Report
You can send certain phones on via the Hubbub scheme which will wipe your phone /tablet and sent it onto people without digital access. See more info – LINK
Summary
- There is a new retail option to recycle our blister packs. We need to use it or lose it, so use if you can and share with family and friends.
- E-waste is a growing problem. We first need to repair then when we can’t use the website provided to find out where you can take your end of life recycling.
- Most of us have an old mobile phone in the draw, these precious metals can be reused again and again, you can often save some money by trading it in or donate to those who need it.
Sustainable Cheshire 
I think this is very good that implementing and focusing on environmental policies is great. The fact that these topics are brought to the forefront on prime time TV is a huge incentive to people to step.up to the plate. Companies are responding to the climate crisis in a big step forward. However, world governments and leaders should NOT be allowed in any way to backstep on pledges that should be LEGALLY BINDING. Individuals Should take more responsibility by not leaving letter or fly tipping. I think more and more people are now taking responsibility for their actions
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Our household enthusiastically participated in the SuperDrug blister pack recycling scheme, and were really sorry when it was phased out. In the hope of a new scheme emerging, we have saved our used blister packs and now have several bags full stored in our garage.
So while the Aldi scheme should be welcomed, the limitations on the numbers of blister packs that can be recycled makes me wonder what its purpose is. My wife and I will both have to register, get the labels and bags, and carefully count out our old blister packs so as to stick within these arbitrary rules, and its going to be a while before our stockpile begins to diminish.
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