Surrey sees surge in TV recycling (From Redhill And Reigate Life)
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Surrey sees surge in TV recycling
10:37am Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News
The switchover to digital has led to a 40% increase in TV recycling in Surrey.
Surrey County Council has reported the hefty rise in the number of television sets being recycled.
The council said in the first six months of this year, it recycled around 28,000 televisions - a 40% hike on the same period last year.
The council said the mountain of TVs for recycling weighed a total of 1,452 tons - the equivalent of more than three fully-loaded jumbo jets.
John Furey, Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for transport and environment, said the TV signal change had reaped results which added up to very good news for the environment.
Coun Furey said: “The big TV signal change from analogue to digital has led to a surge in sets being taken to our recycling centres, as viewers made sure they weren’t left with a blank screen.
“Up to 95% of a television can be recycled and kept out of landfill, which saves taxpayers money and benefits the environment.
“Plastic can be melted for phones and computers, copper can be recycled and used in items like kettles or toasters, and the glass can be made into sand for golf course bunkers.”
The sets were processed by contractor DHL Enviro Solutions on Surrey County Council’s behalf.
Earlier this year, it was announced Surrey had reached a 50% household waste recycling rate almost a decade ahead of schedule.
As well as encouraging recycling, the county council has been working to help people reduce the amount of waste they produce in the first place.
Initiatives have included the Love Food Surrey campaign, helping people throw out less food by encouraging them to shop smarter and use leftovers, and a furniture re-use campaign, which has stopped tens of thousands of items of furniture being sent to landfill.
The council has also led a drive to get more people composting, which has seen thousands of cut price compost bins sold by the council over the past three years, helping divert more than 4,000 tons of waste from landfill sites.
For more information about the campaigns, visit the website: www.surreywastepartnership.org.uk For more details about recycling waste, visit: www.surreycc.gov.uk and search for ‘community recycling centres.’
