Householders around the county are being urged to bring their old batteries, electrical, and electronic waste to one of the upcoming free collection days hosted by WEEE Ireland.
The events, which are supported by Galway County Council, aim to help the county meet national e-waste recycling targets for 2023.
The first event will take place on Saturday, April 8 the Oughterard GAA Club, Pier Road, from 10am to 4pm. A second event will take place at Maam Cross Mart on Saturday, April 29 from 10am to 4pm.
Collection events are also being planned for April and early May in Loughrea, Mountbellew, and Gort.
All household items with a plug or a battery will be accepted free of charge, including old washing machines, TVs, toasters and kettles, electronic tools and toys, cables, IT equipment, mobile phones, remote controls, batteries, including farm fence batteries, and even watches.
“In Galway, and across Ireland, we are buying more electrical goods than ever – with the annual tonnage on the market rising significantly from 15kg a head in 2016 to 23kg a head in 2022,” said WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan.
“Shopping stats during the pandemic showed a surge in spend on new electrical devices like mobile phones, computers, small kitchen appliances and white goods. With old items still lying around many households we want to offer the opportunity to recycle these for free.
“People in Galway have contributed greatly to e-waste recycling every year, and we want to encourage that trend.”
A surge in lockdown spring cleaning saw 2,900 tonnes of electrical waste collected in Galway by the country’s largest recycling scheme in 2021, despite Covid-19 and travel restrictions being in place for much of the year.
A total of 11.24kg of e-waste was recycled per person in Galway last year – exceeding both the 2020 collection rate of 11.17kg and the national average of 10.86kg per person.
However, the county’s e-waste target for 2023 has increased to 14kg per person, to reflect yearly increases in electrical goods consumption, accelerated by Covid-19.
“Eighty two per cent of all material that we collect is recovered for use again in manufacturing through both indigenous operators and specialist processors in Europe,” Mr Donovan revealed.
“Most end-of-life products contain metals and minerals in higher concentrations than primary resources. These stocks of resources are the urban mines of the future, so our recycling efforts can have a significant impact on the environment.”
In 2021, the equivalent of 231,179 tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided by recycling e-waste through the WEEE Ireland scheme as opposed to landfilling. That is the equivalent of the annual carbon consumption of 4,624 hectares of trees.
WEEE Ireland accounts for over two thirds of all national waste electrical and electronics collection activity on behalf of 1,300 producer members.
