New Kerbside Collections for East Suffolk

East Suffolk Council today unveils its plans to introduce kerbside collections of small electrical items across the whole of East Suffolk. Collections will begin in the coming weeks with the hope that 120,000 households in the local community will get behind its drive to recycle their electricals.

The new kerbside collections will enable residents to leave small electrical items on top of their wheeled bins on their usual bin collection day and items will then be collected by the refuse crew and taken away for recycling. There is no need to bag the items.

This is one of over 60 UK projects funded by Material Focus, the not for profit leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, who have provided £60,724 to support this project. East Suffolk Council are joining other projects around the country in making it easier for 10 million UK residents to recycle their electricals.

Following a trial of the scheme in parts of the district last year, electrical kerbside collections will now be rolled out across all of East Suffolk. Residents are advised to look out for a leaflet advising them when collections will start in their area.

Electrical collections will take place at the same time as existing household waste or recycling collections. Collected items will be sorted for recycling or where appropriate, given to local charities The Repair Shed in Martlesham and the Benjamin Foundation in Lowestoft for repair before selling the items to raise money. To try and manage demand on the service residents are asked to leave no more than 2 small electrical items, unbagged, out for collection each week. If the collection basket on the refuse vehicle is full, items can be scheduled for collection the following week.

Residents will be made aware of how and where they can recycle their electricals through information on leaflets and on eye-catching social media featuring HypnoCat. Keep an eye out for HypnoCat, the Recycle Your Electricals mesmerising pink, fluffy mascot, who is on a mission to hypnotise local residents into recycling their electricals.

This project is part of the new 2025 funding for the Electricals Recycling Fund where Material Focus has allocated an additional £750,000. The aim of the nationwide Electricals Recycling Fund is to significantly reduce e-waste and its environmental impact by making it easier for consumers to recycle their electricals. The projects that have been funded by Material Focus include a variety of recycling methods, from kerbside collections to more drop-off points in schools, community centres, and bring banks. Overall there will be over 400 new collection points plus kerbside collections for 3 million UK residents.

Recycle Your Electricals research has shown that 80% of consumers believe recycling is a good thing, and many of us already recycle things like paper and plastic. Research has also shown that most of us have unwanted electricals we want to get rid of. On average there are at least 30 electricals hidden away in drawers in UK homes, a total of 880 million items across the UK - with a simple repair many could be donated or sold to people who could put them to good use. And yet 39% of people bin electricals, rather than recycle or reuse them leading to over 100,000 tonnes of electricals thrown away every year. The aim of these projects is to overcome these issues by making it easier to repair, donate or recycle electricals.

Cllr Sally Nobie, East Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for the Environment said: “We introduced a trial of these collections to a small number of towns and villages towards the end of last year and are now able to bring the scheme to the rest of the district. We know that residents want to dispose of their electrical items properly and are pleased to be able to offer this service to all our residents.” 

"We are pleased to support East Suffolk Council and the new kerbside collection trial that addresses the pressing issue of e-waste.” said Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus. "By investing in improved collection and drop-off services and exploring new recycling methods, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more sustainable future by making it easier for 10 million more people to recycle their electricals."

To find your nearest recycling point search recycle your electricals here.