Why should waste electrical goods be recycled?

Recycling unwanted electrical products is better for the environment. The amount of electrical waste, from hairdryers to washing machines, that is thrown away is increasing by around 5% each year. This means that in one year the amount of electrical waste created in the UK could fill Wembley Stadium 6 times!

Over 75% of waste electrical goods end up in landfill, where lead and other toxins contained in electrical goods can cause soil and water contamination. This can have a very harmful effect on the natural habitat, wildlife and also human health. When situated near populated areas these toxins can cause problems to communities as their water and soil is polluted.

Many of the electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled. Recycling items helps to save natural resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending waste electrical goods to landfill.

How can I recycle my old electrical and electronic products?

Pixmania are offering free in store take back with the help from our partner Currys so you are able to take your large kitchen appliances to Currys’ stores. You need not have purchased the equipment in one of our stores.

We'll recycle your old large kitchen appliances for free. Our home delivery team can collect your old kitchen appliances when they deliver your new one. All we ask is that you disconnect it before we arrive. And remember to defrost it if it is a fridge, freezer or fridge freezer.

The same goes for televisions. Buy your new one from us and there is no need to worry about disposing of your old television. We will take it away and recycle it.

How will I know whether the new products I buy can be recycled?

All new electrical and electronic products sold now carry the ‘crossed out wheelie bin’ logo to help
you identify which products are recyclable.

You do not need to have purchased new equipment to be able to recycle your old appliances.

What do I need to do to ensure my old appliances are ready for you to take away?

• -Your old appliance must be empty and safely disconnected prior to our arrival
• -Your fridge or freezer must be fully defrosted
• -Gas and dual fuel cookers must be disconnected by a CORGI-approved engineer
• -Mains-wired electric cookers should only be disconnected by an electrically competent person
• -If you have paid for installation of your new cooker, we are qualified to disconnect your old cooker for you.
• -Please note if you are buying a PC we cannot accept any product entailing personal data for recycling. You will need to have removed any personal data from your old product prior to us collecting/receiving it as once received/collected we will not carry out any data removal.

What happens to old appliances?

The products are sent to our recycling centre and around 85% of the materials are recycled.
Many electrical products contain a small proportion of non-recyclable materials or are returned with non-recyclable materials. For example; a vacuum cleaner is often returned with its bag or the contents of the dust that it collected in its useful life. A fridge or freezer might be discarded with food still contained within it. Whatever the product, best efforts are made to recycle as much of it’s content as possible once the product arrives at the recycling centre. The current overall recycling rate is 85% and we are aiming to improve this to 90%.

How long does it take from arrival at your depot to being back on the shelf as a new product?

This period of time taken to process the WEEE at the factory is relatively short (e.g. within 24 hours). However, there are a number of factors thereafter that affect how long it might take before the recycled steel for example is fully recycled into new steel and thereafter into the manufacturing process as part of a new product. A period of 2 to 3 months before this takes place is very much dependent on supply and demand.