Recolight co-funds national WEEE TV advert
Recolight has announced its support for a national advertising campaign for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) called ‘WEEE Connect’.
An industry partnership of the UK’s largest WEEE producer compliance schemes and reprocessors, ‘WEEE Connect’ aims to increase public awareness of the need to recycle WEEE.The campaign includes a TV advert which is set to be aired nationally before and after Christmas. It shows how WEEE diverted from landfill is sent for recycling and seeks to encourage householders not to dispose of old electrical equipment in their residual waste, but to instead take it to their nearest recycling centre.
Viewers will see how their waste electronics are sent for reprocessing and recycling, eventually contributing components to new products. They are advised to use WRAP’s Recycle Now site to find their nearest recycling centre.
Recolight will be joining a number of other recycling/waste compliance schemes and companies, all united in the challenge to educate the public about recycling WEEE properly.
Nigel Harvey, Recolight’s chief executive, said, ‘Raising public awareness of WEEE as a waste stream is vital. Most people are unaware of the need to recycle WEEE; for example our own research shows that only 18 per cent know that low energy lightbulbs need to be recycled through specialised recycling facilities.
‘On a more positive note, research also shows that most people will recycle if they know they should, and if it is easy to do so. Whilst consumers might make a special trip to their local HWRC with an old television or fridge, when it comes to small WEEE (such as toasters, hair dryers and low energy lightbulbs) it is important to increase awareness of the need to recycle these items to stop them going to landfill.
‘In the next three to five years we expect large quantities of low energy lightbulbs to start reaching end of life. It is therefore essential that we raise awareness now of the importance of recycling these bulbs so that they don’t end up in landfill.’
Recolight is already working hard to foster greater awareness amongst consumers. It has established a number of partnerships with local authorities and retailers, such as Sainsbury’s, Homebase and Robert Dyas, to provide more facilities for consumers to recycle their old bulbs, making it easier and more convenient to do so.
