UKC

We've got stuff in the house what's broke and useless and needs chucking:

Much-loved espresso machine* that's finally gone kaput.

Old computers - both desktop and several laptops.

Peripherals of above: keyboards, mice, printers, ...

Turntable vinyl record player** and it's speakers.

Old vacuum cleaner...

I reckon I can just put them in my grey non-recyclable wheelie bin - why the heck not?, it's just general rubbish as far as I'm concerned.

The Mrs. thinks I need to take them to a dedicated waste facility and sort them into ... erm ... categories .. ?

Who's right?

*oohh, yeah, I need another espresso machione - recommend me one. I Fancy a Gaggia (for the brand, I'm tacky like that)

**Need a new one of these too. What kind, hive mind??

I found a local company which recycles laptops and mobile phones. They also mash the hard rive up infant of you (not as exciting as I was expecting) but the computers are reused if possible or stripped if not. 

Google what's local to you.

Our local councils waste facilities (High Peak and Derbyshire Dales) are doing a big push on getting people to take small electric items to the local tip/recycle centre. You get a raffle ticket and can win x amount of pounds monthy.

For them to do it there must be a recycling benefit for them. We can also leave small electrical items (max 2 a fortnight i think) ontop of our recycling bin. So i would say your Missus is right

Sometimes I despair at the official recycling provision in the UK. If you have stuff you no longer want, regardless of whether you have two a year or ten a month, why on earth shouldn't you be able to drop them off at a recycle centre so they can be disposed off responsibly and you aren't tempted to bury them in with your ordinary household waste? And as for not letting anyone near a tip with a vehicle bigger than an estate car - is the priority really that of removing recyclable material from general waste? Or of making money?

</rantover>

We can take vans to ours. I have taken my husband's work tipper truck full of garden waste with no issues at all. Must depend on area

My local tip, Stretford, you can.  Metal, wood, electricals, vegetation etc.  Load up all your crap, get down there, tell them what you've got and they tell where to dump it.

That's the way it should be. Glad to hear that my previous experience may not be as widespread as I feared.

Youll find a skip at your recycling centre for small household electrical items... All the stuff can go in there. There is usually a container too for disposal of computers and monitors.  These days at the various ones i visit - someone will be on hand to make sure you pop it all in the right places, so not much sorting needed.

I hVe a pro-ject debut carbon turntable. Its lovely

My part of the world (Surrey), you leave it next to your normal rubbish in a placcie bag marked "electrics". Haven't tried it with a fridge/freezer yet but it works for small stuff.

Just googled that - oo-er, looks a bit fancy for my old scratched-up LPs! 

...but now I've seen it .... phoaar...

and the others... thought so, I'm gonna be guilted into a trip to a centre somewhere...  Ah well. Not allowed vans in any of my nearest ones round here, I've found, not that it's necessary for these items mind, but still - been turned away before with a van full of broken furniture - almost makes one turn to fly-tipping. (no, not really, before you start)

When you buy the new thing, take the old thing with you and leave it at the shop. They have a legal duty to recycle it for you :

https://www.gov.uk/electricalwaste-producer-supplier-responsibilities/take-...

Cezza

Wow!, that's facinating, and very useful. Never ever heard that before. Not something retailers seem to advertise as a service, guess there's absolutely nothing in it for them, after all.

I wonder what's the rationalle behind legally obliging retailers to process our waste? Bummer for them....

It's easier, gives them more recycle/reuse options and is more 'PC' than taxing them on the new product (which will, inevitably, end up as waste eventually)

I knew it applied to 'white goods' but not smaller electricals

Everydays a school day

I helped with a house clearance of a dead relative (the contents, not them) a couple of years ago in county Durham and even a 7 seater space wagon were limited to 2 trips a day, unless you bought a permit as they classed them as a van. 

It doesn't just encourage rubbish smuggling in wheelie bins, it adds to fly tipping too. 

The local tip will usually take electronics and electricals.  Typically they go in the metals skip, probably because there is valuable metal to be extracted from them.

TBH I'd rather have to pay each time (provided the fee was reasonable) than have restrictions on visits.

Don't put electrical appliances in general waste - they often contain components that are environmentally toxic (batteries, capacitors, etc).

Your profile says you live in Saddleworth. Manchester Council has a recycling centre in Oldham that takes various sizes of electrical appliance: https://recycleforgreatermanchester.com/recycle-centre/arkwright-street-rec...

The problem is there are no shortage of lazy tight folk about who will use any excuse to fly tip.

Better to some how tax or legislate packaging, then use that to fund free public waste disposal. 

I think the main issue is illegal waste disposal operators using household recycling centres for disposing of trade waste.

If someone's doing 10 trips a week in double axle transit tipper they're clealy running a business at the council taxpayers expense as well as illegally moving waste and avoiding tax.

It could be argued it's better than it being fly tipped, but it's still parasitic and penalises householders and honest businesses.

TBH I think we'd be better off going back to the days of Councils providing waste disposal for at least small businesses from the rates.  Having to sort your own contracts makes things a right faff for small businesses.  Rather than Councils mostly not offering business waste disposal, they'd be better off offering it as part of rates then allowing people to opt out for private service if they prefer and receive a small discount.

FWIW, some things are a right nuisance to get rid of.  Someone dumped 12 tyres behind our Scout hut, and the only way I could find to get rid was to go and be very nice to the man at the tip - officially they will only take 4.  I did a fair bit of searching online for a contractor and there are barely any - their business is mostly long term contracts for tyre places, not someone who has had a few fly-tipped and needs rid.