WEEE project wins national award

We have won Campaign of the Year for our Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling project, which gives small electrical and battery-operated items the chance to become something new.

130 collection points 

The WEEE team collecting the award for Campaign of the Year

The popular project, which continues to go from strength to strength, was praised by an expert judging panel from across the recycling sector.

There are now 130 collection points across the county, offering residents the chance to recycle items including Freeview boxes, headphones, hairdryers, irons, toasters, digital cameras and mobile phones.

Cllr Mark Wilkes, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: "I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the WEEE project. It is a fantastic achievement to gain national recognition for this project.

"As a council, we are determined to reduce waste and this is helping us to recycle a range of devices into something new and prevent these from being disposed of. We are delighted that our innovative approach is leading the way. We hope other councils will consider setting up similar schemes, helping to reduce and recycle waste on an even larger scale."

Repair cafés

We launched the scheme last year working in partnership with Valpak, AO.com and the County Durham Furniture Help Scheme.

As part of a spin-off of the project, repair cafés are also operating at locations across the county, at which experts are on hand to give broken items a new lease of life. The next repair café will be at Newton Aycliffe Library on Friday 16 December, between 10am and 1pm.