Kildare householders urged to avail of free e-waste and battery recycling events

Kildare householders are being urged to bring their batteries and electronic waste to a set of free collection days.

Doing so would help the county to meet national e-waste recycling targets for 2023.

The events, hosted by WEEE Ireland in partnership with Kildare County Council, will kick off on Saturday, May 13 at the Tesco car park, Shackleton Road, Celbridge, from 10am to 4pm, and Saturday, May 20 at the Tesco car park, Dublin Road, Maynooth, from 10am to 4pm.

All household items with a plug or a battery will be accepted free of charge, including old washing machines, TVs, toasters and kettles, electronic tools and toys, cables, IT equipment, mobile phones, remote controls, batteries, including farm fence batteries, and even watches.

Commenting ahead of the event, WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan said: "In Kildare, and across Ireland, we are buying more electrical goods than ever; with the annual tonnage on the market rising significantly from 15 kilograms (kg) a head in 2016 to 23kg a head in 2022

"Shopping stats during the pandemic showed a surge in spend on new electrical devices like mobile phones, computers, small kitchen appliances and white goods. 

He continued: "With old items still lying around many households we want to offer the opportunity to recycle these for free.

"People in Kildare have contributed greatly to e-waste recycling every year, and we want to encourage that trend."

A surge in lockdown spring cleaning saw 1,247 tonnes of electrical waste collected in Kildare by the country’s largest recycling scheme in 2021, despite Covid-19 and travel restrictions still in place for much of the year.

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5.61kg of e-waste was recycled per person in Kildare last year – falling short of the 2020 collection rate of 5.71kg and the national average of 10.86kg per person.

However, the county’s e-waste target for 2023 has increased to 14kg per person, to reflect yearly increases in electrical goods consumption, accelerated by Covid-19.

Mr Donovan elaborated: "82 per cent of all material that we collect is recovered for use again in manufacturing through both indigenous operators and specialist processors in Europe.

"Most end-of-life products contain metals and minerals in higher concentrations than primary resources. 

"These stocks of resources are the urban mines of the future, so our recycling efforts can have a significant impact on the environment."

In 2021, the equivalent of 231,179 tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided by recycling e-waste through the WEEE Ireland Scheme as opposed to landfilling.

That is the equivalent of the annual carbon consumption of 4,624 hectares of trees.

WEEE Ireland accounts for over two thirds of all national waste electrical and electronics collection activity on behalf of 1,300 producer members.

These free events are in partnership with Kildare County Council. 

Also commenting on the event was Dara Wyer, Environment Awareness Officer at Kildare County Council.

He said: "Recycling e-waste is incredibly beneficial for both the environment and the economy; together, we are diverting waste from landfill, recovering raw materials for reuse and ensuring hazardous materials are safely and responsibly disposed of. 

"We look forward to working with WEEE Ireland and Kildare householders to hopefully recycle a record-breaking amount of electronic waste in 2023," Mr Wyer added.