From Monday 5 December, Norwich City Council will be starting a weekly kerbside recycling collection service for unwanted small electrical items, batteries and textiles.
The new service has been introduced to tackle the problems of contamination in blue household recycling bins and reduce waste to landfill.
Audits carried out earlier in 2016 revealed that nearly three quarters of Norwich’s blue recycling bins contained textiles and over a quarter contained small electrical items.
Incorrect items such as textiles and small electricals in recycling collections cost the council over £50,000 a year in sorting and disposal costs.
Councillor Paul Kendrick, cabinet member for recycling said:
“Our priority is to stop people putting textiles and electrical items in their blue recycling and waste bins - this new service tackles the problem head on.
"Many people take their unwanted textiles and small electricals to their local charity shop, which is great; our new kerbside collection service just offers another option."
The new service also tackles the problem of electrical items and batteries being placed in refuse bins and ending up in landfill where hazardous substances can leak out and cause soil and water contamination, harming wildlife and even human health.
Clothes and textiles may not cause the same environmental damage as electricals, but they too have no place in landfill. Old underwear, damaged clothing and faded curtains – anything that isn’t suitable to be passed onto someone else can be recycled and made into new items, such as padding for chairs and car seats, cleaning cloths and industrial blankets.
How to recycle textiles and small electrical items
Residents should place items in a standard-sized carrier bag next to their black or blue bin on collection day. Small electricals and batteries should be put into the same bag, and textiles in a separate bag.
For more information about the new service go to www.norwich.gov.uk/recycling
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