Category: Electronic Equipment

Recycle small electrics now!

On By JMCEIn Awards, Computer Recycling, Dublin, Electronic and Electrical Recycling, Electronic Equipment, Family, News, We Recycle ITLeave a comment

Small Matters

The waste electrical and electronic forum (WEEE Forum) reports an estimated 5.3 billion mobile/smartphones dropped out of use in 2022. Stacked flat on top of each other one and at an average depth of 9 mm these disused phones would cover a distance of 50,000 km which is the equivalent of travelling between Dublin (Ireland) and Sydney (Australia) approximately 3 times (17214 KM  x 3). That is a lot of old unused phones which could be recycled for good!

Mobiles Phones

Using and Replacing

As technology at home and in the office evolves, the speed at which people cease using their existing small electrical and electronic items and replace them with newer models happens with increased regularity. Days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and gifting for Christmas increase exposure to new gadgets and drive consumers to purchase!

Small Mixed Electrical/Electronic Item – Recycle IT

What is Small?

Individuals young and old replace mobile phones, modems, toys, game consoles, chargers, virtual assistants (AI technology), smartwatches and fitness monitors without thinking too much about the older equipment. Did you know the average life of a smartphone and smartwatch is approx? 24 months.

There are reasons for a short life such as built-in obsolescence or the consumer’s perceived need or want for the newest product. Research by the German Environment Agency on the lifespan of consumer electronics can provide further information; just click here.

Small Household Electrical Items – Recycle IT

Before you dispose of old items please be aware many items contain valuable metals and plastics. With natural resources in limited supply, combined with ever-increasing waste disposal costs, it’s important that we safely recycle small electrical items so that they can be reused in new products.

Small Electrical Equipment List

Items like those listed above and below (if not fit for reuse) are usually shredded to reduce volume and are mechanically separated into their component parts (plastics, ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals). The materials collected will then be reused. For example, mixed-grade plastic can be used to make street and park furniture or multi-purpose decking. Any metals recovered are reused in the manufacture of many different types of new products including your new phone or tablet!

Small Electrical Equipment List (Continued)

What to do?

Recycle IT can help you recycle your small, old, unused or damaged electrical items including batteries of all types.  Pop your batteries in a small clear bag alongside items like kettles, toasters or small electric tools and they all will be safely recycled. Please don’t place them in the black, brown or green bin or leave them out for unauthorised collection.

Small Electrical Jukebox – Recycle IT

Recycle IT want to encourage all users of electrical items to recycle their unwanted, damaged, broken or outdated small electrical gadgets when recycling large items from their homes and offices. Clear out draws, shelves and bags used to store smaller items out of sight!

Recycle IT offer a community collection service, a business collection service and free drop-off to communities across Dublin and would like to see an increase in the amount of small electrical items received for safe recycling. If this does not work for you, simply place it in an envelope or small box and post it to us!

Please don’t horde items in the hope of future repair for reuse. Please do get items repaired quickly and if not please recycle!

For full lists of items that can be recycled by Recycle IT click here. (PFD files can be viewed or downloaded)

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is an award-winning social enterprise providing a community, personal and business collection service for all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Dublin and surrounding counties.

During 2022 Recycle IT offered to drop off and collection services to thousands of homes, schools, charities and businesses across Dublin and surrounding areas collecting a range of WEEE which includes thousands of computers, cables, monitors, microwaves and screens

Recycle IT services are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland. Recycle IT is supported by Pobal, Dormant Accounts, South Dublin County Council and authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Leinster.

For more information about Recycle IT please visit www.recycleit.ie or call 01 4578321.

Recycle IT – Dublin City Social Enterprise Award Winner 2022

2023 School Recycling Collections

On By JMCEIn Awards, Dublin, Electronic and Electrical Recycling, Electronic Equipment, We Recycle ITLeave a comment

Free Collection Service

Schools, colleges, and training organisations located in Dublin and surrounding areas now have the opportunity to recycle old and once valued electrical, electronic and pure metal equipment. If you need to declutter and create space recycling safely can really help.

The service is offered free and is dedicated to reducing large amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which accumulates in classrooms, canteens, stores, and labs over time.

Recycle IT, is a community-based social enterprise, offering a simple and efficient route to recycle unused electrical and electronic items. After collection, items are broken down and recovered materials are processed for use in the manufacture of a new product. Your recycling helps sustain our organization and create employment and training opportunities.

The free collection service helps safely divert e-waste from landfills and makes use of old items that may have been thrown away. The types of items usually collected include computers, kitchen equipment, phone systems, mobile phones, laptops, tablets, monitors, projectors, printers, battery-operated toys, televisions, and radios. Please click here for a full list 

School Printers - Recycle IT
School Printers – Recycle IT

Schools, Community and Fundraising 

Our school’s collection service is organised as part of our free community collection service. Recycle IT also support WEEE Ireland with collections of batteries from schools around Dublin which in turn supports the work of LauraLynn Children’s Hospice.

During the last 18 months, our teams have worked with hundreds of schools, colleges, and training organizations all over Dublin to see an overall increase in electrical equipment collected for recycling with a similar trend in 2022.

Our team are following COVID-19 guidelines while collecting and recycling. We have updated our health and safety policies and our full team have returned to work to help operate our recycling collection services. We are delighted to be in a position to help your school safely recycle all types of electrical, electronic and pure metal equipment so do email us.

School Electronics for Recycling

Register an interest

Schools, colleges, and trainers of all types in Dublin and the surrounding area are welcome to register an interest, simply complete a registration form by clicking here or call our team on 01 4578321 Monday – Friday. Once you call or email we can help you plan and schedule your e-waste collection which will help:

  • Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
  • Conserves natural resources such as water and minerals.
  • Increases economic well-being and creates local training and employment opportunities.
  • Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials.
  • Saves energy.
School Collections Supported by WEEE Ireland

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is an award-winning, not-for-profit, social enterprise established to create employment and promote environmental awareness through recycling and reuse. We work in partnership with WEEE Ireland and are authorized by your local authority to provide electrical, electronic and pure metal recycling collections across Dublin since 2007. Recycle IT are fully compliant with WEEE Recycling Requirements and permit details are available here.

For more information about Recycle IT please click here.

Mixed Electrical Equipment

Lighting Up Christmas & New Year 2023

On By JMCEIn Dublin, Electronic and Electrical Recycling, Electronic Equipment, Family, News, We Recycle ITLeave a comment

Some Facts on Christmas Lights!

Over many generations and into the 20th century candles of all shapes and sizes were the preferred Christmas lights across Ireland. The dangers of mixing flickering flames with drying needles from real Christmas trees were accepted in order to make cities, towns, communities and homes brighter places for the dark days in December each year!

Parliament Street Dublin Christmas Light

The earliest manufactured Christmas lights were made of blown glass or porcelain and appeared on Christmas trees in the homes of wealthy people in the 1800s. In the early 1900s, it was fashionable to buy hand-painted bulbs shaped like animals and flowers.

As you can imagine the general public at first didn’t trust electric lights as a safe alternative to candles, but that changed after  US President, Grover Cleveland erected the first Christmas tree with electrical lights in 1895. With more than 100 multicoloured bulbs, the brightly coloured tree got the attention of people across the USA, and illuminated Christmas trees soon became the rage all over the world, —if you could afford one! This year in particular lots of families in homes across Ireland will be switching on many sets of new Christmas lights. Today most of these light will be LED (Light Emitting Diode) which mean traditional lights are no longer used and should be recycled.

Dublin Lights
Dublin Street Christmas Lights

We suggested finding a new use for your old lights so why not start today.  You will find some awesome DIY ideas for reusing/recycling old lights and bulbs at www.brit.co   The team at brit have listed lots of tips with pictures which demonstrate what can be achieved. Whether you plan to turn light bulbs into small vases or cover them with glitter to masquerade as a festive pear, these versatile pieces of glass can be reused anywhere.

Christmas lights can be reused at other times of the year.  You and your kids can make some of the lights covers in the shape of Valentine Hearts, Easter Bunnies or Halloween Pumpkins and you have colourful decorations for many different celebrates or festivals

Moving to LED Lights

Today LED lighting offers many benefits and features that were difficult,  if not impossible, to offer with old lighting used over many generations. These benefits, include enhancing operating energy leading to cost reductions, longer life and lower overall heat generation. Other benefits include appearance productivity and reduced temperatures produced by LEDs.

Electric Ireland reports that for most people, lighting accounts for around 11% of their electricity bills and switching your halogen light bulbs to energy-efficient LEDs can cut those lighting costs by up to 80%. In other words; the savings with LEDs add up fast.

For each light bulb, you replace with an LED light bulb, you will see immediate savings on your energy bill. So big savings at Christmas.

Christmas Tree – Lights up Dublin

You can read some LED tips below!

  1. LED lights usually cost only a little more than traditional Christmas lights and glow brighter.
  2. By changing to LED lights you will save on electricity during the festive season.
  3. A longer life span means lower carbon emissions. LED Lights last up to six times longer than other types of lights, reducing the requirement for frequent replacements.
  4. Strings of LED light can be much longer than traditional lights
  5. New LED lights generally stay cooler which is deemed safer.
  6. LED lights now create the glow of incandescent light or traditional fairy lights so you can relive memories of years ago.
  7. LED lights contain no toxic elements, therefore, they help to protect the environment and reduce toxic waste created by traditional Christmas lights.
  8. 95% of the energy in LED lights is converted into lighting with only 5% wasted as heat.

Before you buy lights this festive season, it’s important to compare your options and find out the type of lighting which work best for you and your home. Remember LEDs can save you money and reduce energy consumption which is a positive for the pocket and the environment.

Dublin At Christmas brings festive Christmas magic to Dublin's City Centre - DublinTown
Christmas Lights Dublin – Dublin Town

Festive Dublin in Lights

Dublin City Council is excited to announce the return of the spectacular ‘Dublin Winter Lights’. The lights were switched on in mid-November 2021 and will remain on until January 1st. This year 21 locations will feature in the form of 2 walking trails around the city that are transformed with colourful projections and lighting displays.

The eco-friendly ‘Dublin Winter Lights’ features 157,800 low-power LEDs, 100 tonnes of equipment and 15,780 metres of cable. Click here for more information and map details.

Recycling Lights

Whether it’s old indoor, outdoor, coloured or white lights, you should try to reuse or recycle. Old lights and other unused Christmas illuminations should not be left sitting in boxes in the store, shed or garage. They’ll usually never shine again once replaced by newer alternatives. In reality, unused items create unnecessary clutter which will need to be clear in the future.

If you do decide to recycle your old lights please do so in an environmentally friendly way. Recycle IT are happy to collect old lights and other electrical or electronic items or you can drop them off with our recycling team at no cost. You can also drop lights off at your local recycling or bring centre. 

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is a not-for-profit social enterprise providing collection and drop-off services for all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Yearly Recycle IT offered to drop-off and collection services to thousands of homes and organisations across Dublin and surrounding areas collecting a range of WEEE which includes thousands of computers, televisions, toasters, cables, lawnmowers, monitors, microwaves and kettles.

Recycle IT services are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland. Recycle IT is supported by South Dublin County Council and authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Leinster.

Visit our website for further details.

Christmas Lights

Gifting or Replacing Mobile Phones

On By JMCEIn Dublin, Electronic and Electrical Recycling, Electronic Equipment, Social EnterpriseLeave a comment

Gifting, Upgrading, Replacing

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, just past and Valentine’s Day fast approaching new mobile phones are chosen by many as a gift for the special day. At the same time, many of us just upgrade or replace old phones with a new, faster, increasingly secure gleaming model! According to the Minerals Education Coalition, about 140 million mobile phones are disposed of every year. But what happen with the old once loved mobile phones?

Drawer with Old Mobile Phones

Some options

There are an increasing number of options for recycling and reusing old mobile phones some of which are listed below.

  • When you buy a new mobile phone in a shop, ask how you can recycle your old one.
  • If your unwanted phone is in good working condition and reasonably up-to-date, online resellers and some high street shops buy electrical or electronic items, especially if you have the original box, charger and instructions.
  • Old, unused, broken mobile phones can be disposed of at most recycling centres alongside small electrical items – find your nearest in Dublin here.

Some charities did accept mobile phones in the past. This option seems to have ceased but safe recycling is still an option, It’s really good to know phones are recyclable and many parts can be recovered so please don’t send them to a landfill or leave them in the drawer for years.

Old Mobile Phones

Value

Mobile phones contain a range of materials including valuable fragments such as silver – which can be extracted and re-used. The variety of metals used includes aluminium which is lightweight and usually found in the phone case. Lithium cobalt oxide and carbon graphite are used to make the batteries. Elements like gold, copper and silver are used in the wiring of the phone. Platinum and tungsten are used in the circuitry. Another common material found in mobile phones is plastic which can be used instead of lightweight metal in the case.

Very Old Mobile Phones

Before you retire your old phone

  • Back up your data e.g. photos, music, messages, emails, contacts etc
  • Turn off any payment services e.g.google pay where your card details are stored
  • Sign out of apps that hold your personal information e.g. social media sites and email accounts.
  • Delete saved passwords on your browsers – e.g. google chrome.
  • Remove your SIM card and any backup or external storage
  • Wipe the phone with a factory reset.

If you are unsure of how to perform the above actions you can try the user manual if you still have one. Alternatively, if you know or can find the phone model number you will most likely find the steps online and there may be a video on YouTube to help.

If the above action doesn’t work for you, Recycle IT can help with the cost-effective breakdown and destruction of your old mobile phones. The process places the phone beyond reuse, while also safely recycling the component parts for processing and eventual reuse in new products.

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT is an award-winning, not-for-profit, social enterprise established to create employment and promote environmental awareness through recycling and reuse. We work in partnership with WEEE Ireland and are authorized by your local authority to provide electrical, electronic and pure metal recycling collections across Dublin since 2007. Recycle IT are fully compliant with WEEE Recycling Requirements and permit details are available here.

For more information about Recycle IT please click here.

Damaged Mobile Phones

Recycle IT – Small Business Electronics

On By JMCEIn Awards, Climate change, Dublin, Electronic and Electrical Recycling, Electronic Equipment, News, We Recycle ITLeave a comment

Calling Small Business

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling is an important consideration for every business, including small and medium-sized companies and especially those with a lot of electronics, such as computers, laptops, phones, networking equipment, printers, and other office devices. Watch our video below!

Recycle IT – Community Electrical Recycling

Some of these old and unused items may be stored in desk drawers or stationary rooms and years out of use. The safe disposal of old, damaged, or unused equipment is essential to good environmental practice.

Some Background

According to the United Nation’s Global E-Waste monitor, e-waste is the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream. Its disposal contributes to climate change due to the chemicals released when it gets burned. Furthermore 10 % of all electricity consumption and 4 % of all carbon emissions worldwide stem from the ICT industry.

E-waste is hazardous because the components used to make devices contain metals and chemicals known to harm human health. Adults and children in developing countries often work, live, and play in or near e-waste recycling centres and are therefore especially vulnerable.

Unauthorised Disposal of Electronic Equipment

Why We Do

Recycle IT safely recycle Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling for business. We offer a collection service for all types of electronic equipment. Many items are broken down into their component parts and salvaged components that can be reused including the metal from outer casings. This is a much more practical solution for the growing challenge of e-waste. Simply dumping the equipment in the bin is not the right thing to do.

Before the safe disposal of computer equipment, Recycle IT can on request offer data destruction to ensure that sensitive information is not stolen and used for fraud – an important and often legal consideration for many companies. Just ask in advance of drop off or the collection and the service can be arranged.

Computers including Hard Disk Drives

Recycle IT aims to support the Circular Economy which favours designing products for durability, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling. It aims to keep materials circulating for as long as possible. It’s an economy that encourages many different uses for materials instead of just using them up and throwing them in a landfill or an incinerator.

Our recycling initiatives have led to positive recognition from several sources, including Repak Ireland, Dublin City Council, Rethink Ireland, and others.  Please click here to learn more.

If your business needs to free up space, declutter and safely recycle old electronic equipment or pure metal items please do contact Recycle IT via email or telephone at 01 4578321

About Recycle IT

Recycle IT, is an award-winning Dublin-based, not-for-profit, social enterprise offering electrical, electronic and metal recycling. Services are provided in partnership with WEEE Ireland. Recycle IT is supported by Pobal, the Dormant Accounts Fund, and South Dublin County Council. Recycle IT is authorised by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Leinster.

For further details about our free and cost-effective services call us on 01 4578321, email info@recycleit.ie or visit the Recycle IT website at www.recycleit.ie

Recycle IT – 2022 Award Winner