The Guide to WEEE
WEEE Recycling
Read Time: 4 mins
The Guide to WEEE Contents:
WEEE Disposal Options
WEEE Meaning and Examples
WEEE Recycling
WEEE Regulations
Recycling your WEEE
If your WEEE can’t be reused and is definitely useless, then the next best thing to do on the waste hierarchy is to recycle. This is where Clearabee comes in to help. We can take away any of your WEEE items and make sure that they get recycled properly. All of the waste sites that we use are fully audited to ensure that they are diverting as much waste as possible from landfills. We rate these sites based on a number of different factors. These include recycling and recovery rates, environmental management standards and health & safety risk.
WEEE Recycling UK
Here are some examples of the process your WEEE will go through and what it may end up being recycled into.
Fridges
Fridges contain compressors which can become dangerous if they are not removed before entering a shredder. The shredder will dismantle the fridge to the point where materials such as plastics can be sifted out. This reclaimed plastic will be of lower grade in terms of quality but will often be used in items such as plastic plant pots.
TVs
The average TV width was 23 inches in 1997 and in 2018 the average screen width was 47 inches. The humble television set which was once easy to lift has grown into the huge widescreens of the modern-day which are difficult to maneuver. The plastic shells can be recycled into new products which can be made from lower-grade plastics. TVs can also be home to relatively valuable metals like copper which can be recycled into pipes, wiring and much more.
Washing Machines and Dishwashers
Like fridges, washing machines will enter a giant shredder to dismantle it down into manageable pieces. These loose materials will enter a number of sorting processes which include handpicking and floating in liquids of varying densities. Washing machines won’t require as high grade-A plastic as fridges so some materials may re-enter the production line and be turned back into washing machines.
Phones, laptops and computers
Everyday tech such as smartphones have a natural life cycle, especially with a contact stream of new and shiner gadgets being released. As such some of our old tech will fall to the wayside and end up as WEEE. Certain circuits or connections within the tech will have a small layer of gold that can be reclaimed. Although each piece of tech will only contain the tiniest amount, this gold will add up and can be recycled into jewelry.
Wires
The real value of cable is hidden underneath the rubber exterior. Metals such as lead, copper, aluminum and more can all be extracted from old cables. Like nearly all WEEE, cables are shredded to separate valuable items like copper from the less useful rubbers and plastics.
Our blog also contains usefull resources on topics such as what to do with old game consoles.
How do I recycle my WEEE in London?
If you have bulky, hard-to-move WEEE items such as white goods, vacuum cleaners, etc. then we can help. We work with the North London Waste Authority to offer a free kerbside collection.
As long as the items are hard to handle or bulky, we can collect them. You must be able to get the items outside of the home so that we can collect them without access to your property needing to be granted.
If you have any items that you can easily carry then you will need to take them to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre yourself. This includes small household appliances such as coffee machines, irons, toasters and hair dryers. If you have any queries about the items that we will collect, then you can look at the guide on this page.
Clearabee Services
Just to recap Clearabee offer a wide range of services that will help you with the removal of your bulky waste items.
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WEEE Meaning and Examples
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WEEE Regulations