Hypnocat urges Aberdeenshire residents to recycle old electrical appliances

Aberdeenshire residents are being encouraged to recycle their old electrical appliances with the help of a fun feline.

Hypnocat is urging locals to recycle both working and broken electrical items to ensure they don’t needlessly end up in landfill.

It's part of the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, run by Material Focus, which has carried out research that shows currently UK householders are throwing away 155,000 tonnes of waste electricals each year with a further 527 million items hoarded in UK homes.

This is contributing to one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the UK and globally, estimated to cost the UK economy over £370 million of lost valuable raw materials, such as gold, copper, aluminium and steel.

So, whether you are at home or work, please hunt out old electricals and donate them.

The scheme is being delivered in the north-east by Peterhead-based charity Stella’s Voice in association with XS Resources, the recycling campaign accepts all manner of electrical items – from kettles, fans and toasters to stereos, laptops and games consoles.

When it comes to replacing old electrical items, the message is simple – re-use first and, if that's not possible, recycle.

Stella’s Voice accepts all kinds of appliance at its retail outlets and can collect larger items free of charge - while XS Resources has a drop-in facility at Stonehaven Community Centre.

All electrical appliances are thoroughly checked by staff at Stella’s Voice to ensure those which are in working order can be given a new lease of life while also supporting the charity’s important work both here in Aberdeenshire and abroad.

Even those items which are not working provide a host of components which can be recycled which is helping to cut down the volume of waste going to landfill.

The recycling campaign also sees all laptops and computer hard drives wiped clean by Retek UK before they are re-sold.

If you need to arrange a free pick-up – call 0300 303 2520.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.