PR 3152

COUNTY COUNCIL HAS ELECTRONICS RECYCLING `IN THE BAG'

Hampshire County Council has joined forces with Hippowaste, a Fareham-based waste management company, to provide an innovative solution to help boost the recycling of televisions, computer monitors and other waste electrical items at its Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).

Hippobags - the waste management company's flexible alternative to a skip - will be used at all 26 HWRCs countywide. More than 8,000 TVs and computer monitors are taken to the sites every month, and the space-saving Hippobags, which are stored flat-packed and are much less bulky than ordinary skips when in use, are the ideal storage solution.

Once full, Hippowaste will collect the bags and take them to a reprocessing centre where metals and electronics will be recovered and prepared for reuse.

The County Council's Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Mel Kendal, said: "Hippowaste was able to design a bespoke service for us so we could be assured that the Hippobags were up to the job. Space is at a premium at many of our HWRCs, so anything that enables us to increase our recycling capacity within the space available on site is a real bonus.

"The proposed WEEE Directive - the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive - means that producers will be responsible for taking back and recycling electrical and electronic equipment once consumers get rid of it. Hippobags will help us prepare for impending legislation so that we're ahead of the game."

Head of Sales at Hippowaste, Ben Clark, said: "The Hippobag solution will provide a number of measurable benefits for the County Council. As well as being less bulky, the bag allows easier segregation of materials, an area that could become increasingly essential if the planned WEEE Directive comes into force. We're already looking at ways to develop this initiative for other types of hazardous waste."

To find out more about HWRCs, log on to http://www3.hants.gov.uk/environment-waste_recycling-hwrchome.htm. For more information about Hippowaste, call 0870 880 2430 or visit www.hippowaste.co.uk.

Images

The County Council's Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Mel Kendal (right), and Ben Clark, Hippowaste's Head of Performance Development, using the Hippobags.

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03 November 2006