Kingston residents can now recycle small electricals at 15 local drop-off points

Fifteen drop-off points for unwanted or broken small electrical items have opened across Kingston upon Thames. They are in libraries, leisure centres and community spaces around the borough.

Every site has two collection bins. Kingston Council and Relove Technology run the scheme together. The Kingston pilot has received £27,996.94 from Material Focus, a non-profit organisation that also runs the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. Material Focus is co-funding more than 80 pilots like this one across the UK.

Where to recycle small electricals in Kingston

To find the nearest drop-off point, residents can search online for Recycle Your Electricals.

Cllr Nicola Nardelli, the portfolio holder whose brief covers waste and recycling, said the council was always looking for sustainable ways to tackle climate change and move closer to its net zero target. She said the bins would let people recycle small electrical items close to home, so they would no longer need to travel to the Villiers Road HRRC. She called the project key to the council’s commitment to a circular economy and said it would make a real difference in local neighbourhoods.

570 tonnes of electricals thrown away wrongly

An estimated 570 tonnes of electrical items are wrongly disposed of in the borough.

Paul Crossman, co-founder and chief executive of Relove Technology, said too many products that still work, or could be repaired, end up in the bin. He said this adds to a growing e-waste problem, even though the items still have real environmental, social and financial value.

“Our belief is simple: reuse is the best form of recycling,” he said. He added that the scheme would help unwanted electrical and electronic products become new opportunities.