Newham businesses recycle electricals, save cash

Businesses across Newham have recycled several tonnes of electrical waste in the first month of a pilot scheme, saving them thousands of pounds of cash.

The borough was one of two local authorities to take part in the Nice Save Recycle for Free London campaign that encourages firms to recycle rather than bin their rubbish.

As part of it, a new service called 1, 2, 3 Recycle for Free ran collections in a pilot scheme in Newham and Bexley. They have resulted in 10 tonnes of electrical waste being collected from businesses over a month, saving them an approximate �10,000 in commercial recycling collection costs.

It aims to minimise “fridge mountains”, reuse old computers and cut down on the amount of electrical goods sent to costly landfill.

The service is being delivered by DHL’s environmental service offering Envirosolutions and SWEEP Kuusakoski in partnership with the London Mayor’s Recycle for London programme, to offer businesses and organisations a free collection of their unwanted electrical items.

This includes white goods, smaller electrical items such as kettles and outdated IT equipment.

The service, the first to be offered free to businesses of all sizes, is now running in 10 London boroughs.

It costs 25 per cent more for councils to get rid of rubbish in black bins than to recycle it and costs are increasing further with landfill sites filling up and landfill taxes coming into force.

London mayor Boris Johnson said: “I want to make it easier for Londoners and businesses to recycle their waste items or pass them on to new owners, rather than chucking it away as rubbish. This is a fantastic, free new service, open to all businesses which will save them cash in difficult times and also enable them to do the right thing for the environment improving quality of life for all.”