PR 2235

RECYCLING CENTRES AHEAD OF THE GAME

Hampshire County Council is ahead of the game at its 24 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs), which are ready and able to deal with new hazardous waste regulations which came into effect at the weekend.

From 16 July, a number of everyday household items have been reclassified as hazardous waste. This includes household batteries, fluorescent light tubes, some types of paint and thinners, and the cathode ray tubes that work your television.

Since April 2004, nine of Hampshire's HWRCs have been taking batteries and fluorescent tubes. These are the sites that are specifically licensed to receive hazardous household waste and the service will continue unchanged for all materials reclassified as hazardous waste.

Televisions will still be acceptable at all 24 HWRCs in the county. Applications for the remaining 15 sites to be licensed to take hazardous waste will soon be processed by the Environment Agency. This is in readiness for the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic goods) Directive coming into force on 1 January 2006, which sees all electrical items being classified as hazardous. Paint can also be taken to any HWRC.

Hampshire was one of the first areas in the country to provide a hazardous household waste service at some of its HWRCs. In partnership with the unitary authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton, a dedicated service was established at a number of HWRCs to take items such as white spirits, garden chemicals and cleaning products. This ensures that they are taken away and either recycled or disposed of safely so as not to cause damage to the environment.

The County Council's Executive Member for Environment (South), Councillor Tim Knight, said: "I'm pleased to say that once again we're ahead of the game. The County Council had made preparations for the change, and therefore the service for Hampshire householders will not be affected in any way by the changes in regulations."

Executive Member for Environment (North), Cllr Jonathan Glen, said: "The County Council is a UK leader in waste recycling and recovery, partly due to our forward thinking on issues such as these."

Locations of all HWRCs in Hampshire can be found by logging onto www.recycleforhampshire.org.uk and inserting your postcode.

For further media information please contact: Sarette Martin 01962 847666 sarette.martin@hants.gov.uk

19 July 2005