A new permanent recycling bank for small electrical items has been placed at Market Stance, Kingussie to mark the 15 year anniversary of waste electricals recycling in the UK.
The bright pink bin was in place as ten riders rode into the town’s Gynack Gardens on Saturday 3rd June 2023, during day two of a 15 day, 15 location, 15 great stories REPIC WEEE Cycle Network event.
To mark the 15 year anniversary, staff from REPIC, the UK’s leading Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) producer compliance scheme, supported by representatives from Defra, ICER, and ILM Highland, were part of a team of riders travelling a total of 850 miles across 15 days, visiting 15 locations involved in the daily reuse, repair and recycling of waste electricals.
Day two of the REPIC WEEE Cycle has seen the peloton travel as far as Pitlochry , a distance of 70 miles. The riders stopped en route around midday and were welcomed by members of Cycle Friendly Kingussie (CFK) in Gynack Gardens.
Over 30 cyclists and budding cyclists from CFK were out to welcome in the REPIC event riders and enjoy a Balance Bike picnic. Local residents also used the opportunity to get their unwanted and broken electricals reused or recycled by social enterprise, ILM Highland, to support good causes in the Highlands.
Louise Grantham, Chief Executive at REPIC, commented: “I’d like to thank Cycle Friendly Kingussie for our very warm welcome and for helping to organise our visit today”.
“We want to encourage more people to recycle their unwanted electricals. Recycling more and giving unwanted electricals another life, is one of the ways we can all help to protect the environment. Local, accessible collection points make it easier and more convenient for people to dispose of unwanted electricals responsibly.
“By visiting various locations along our route and engaging the local community, we hope we can help residents realise the value of recycling their electricals. We are here to encourage people to keep their electricals in circulation, rather than harbouring them in the back of cupboards. Unwanted electricals contain valuable materials that can be used again and again.”
Commenting on the new additional collection points, ILM Highland’s Chief Executive Officer Martin Macleod, adds: “To encourage Kingussie residents to do more, a member of the ILM Highland team operated a one off van collection today in Kingussie to help spread the news of the permanent collection point in Market Stance.
“It is hoped that by talking to them directly and sharing the local electrical recycling initiatives and collection facilities available to them, they too will help spread the word and recycle more often. Having secured funding for this new collection point in Kingussie, and a further four more through funding from The Highland Council and Material Focus, we are hoping to see an increase in waste collections over the next couple of months.”
The REPIC WEEE Cycle Network event will conclude on Friday 16th June when the peloton of riders pulls into the 15th and final destination in Sittingbourne, Kent around midday. They will have completed 850 miles across 15 days and raised a total of £15k for local good causes along the way.
