It was announced last week by the Home Secretary, Theresa May that the government would be banning scrap yards from paying cash to people who bring in scrap metal to be recycled.

The ban on selling scrap metal for cash comes after an estimated 15000 tonnes of metal was stolen and sold in the UK last year.Half of this amount was from the metal industry but the other 7500 tonnes was stolen from public places such as railways, other transport networks, electricity wires, war statues and even church roofs.

The ban is expected to go before a House of Lords committee today (30th January) in order to get approval. Lord Henley the home office minister for crime prevention is expected to speak in support of the ban.

Many cash transactions that take place at yards for scrap metal do so without any form of ID being needed or proof that the individual actually owns the metal they are selling. As well as this because of the high number of cash transactions that are taking place some scrap yards are using this in order to evade tax.

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) strongly opposes the ban and says that if it is made law then the trade will be driven underground to illegal scrap yards. However the BMRA do say that the theft of metal is a big issue for the industry and do welcome the Government’s focus on it.

The Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said that the Police need the power to close scrap yards who are breaking the rules, if the ban was to come in the Police would not be able to find any illegal scrap yards to close them down. She also thinks that a cashless system would push scrap dealing underground and make policing much harder.

Its expected that Labour will propose alternative options to a complete ban including creating a license scheme for scrap traders instead of the current local authority registration or giving Police better powers to close dodgy scrap yards.

Modern metal recyclers have invested millions of pounds in the last decade in advanced research in order to achieve much better recycling and recovery rates on scrap cars. This research has helped to divert thousands of tonnes of metal from ending up at landfill.

Scrap yards say they do work by the rules and do have the right security procedures already in place with most of them reporting to take photo ID or proof of address. All transactions are recorded on TV and anyone turning up in a taxi or on foot will be turned away so a full number plate can be taken down. Legitimate scrap deals say they suffer significantly from metal theft and will inform the police if anything they receive is considered suspicious.

If you have an old or retro games console sat in your house collecting dust, or have recently upgraded to the latest system or held held device you may want to recycle your unwanted console to get some cash for it.

There are many recycling websites in the UK that now offer great cash or voucher payments for old and even broken gaming consoles and handhelds. The most popular and highest paying recycling sites for gamers are as follows:

Gadgets 4 Everyone

Gadgets 4 Everyone is a brand new recycling site where you can sell many different electronic devices including games consoles. At present they will buy all models of PSP, XBox, PS3, Wii, DS and retro consoles including the Nintendo 64 and Gameboy. They pay cash of up to £125 which is sent via BACS, Paypal or cheque once they have received your item.

Payment: Cash

Sell your old gaming consoles or other electronic gadgets at Gadgets 4 Everyone here

O2 Recycle

O2 Recycle is one of the biggest and most popular gadget recycling sites in the UK. Both O2 and non O2 customers can sell unwanted electronic items in return for cash. As well as SAT NAVs, mobile phones, MP3 players, tablets and digital cameras they will also buy old handheld games consoles. The handheld devices they will currently buy include all Sony PSP and Nintendo DS models.

At O2 Recycle all the profits they make go to their Think Big initiative which aims to help turn around the lives of young people living in the UK. By recycling your goods here not only are you helping the environment but you will also be helping the initiative.

Payment: Cash

Recycle your unwanted electronic goods at O2 Recycle here

Trade Your Games

Tradeyourgames is a brand new unique site where you can sell used console games, Blu-Rays and console systems for either cash or to trade in and receive credit for them to buy games or Blu-Rays off their site. This is the only site in the UK that works like on the high street where you are given credit to buy video games for your unwanted ones. You can also choose to get payment in cash via cheque rather than credit.

They do not buy loads of different consoles but the list is always changing so worth a look for the latest prices, also a great site to check out if you have games to sell. They do buy accessories such as Singstar mics.

Recycle your games and consoles for cash at Trade Your Games here

A brand new site has recently been launched called Trade Your Games which allows users to sell their unwanted console games, consoles and Blu-Rays for cash payments. Although this has been done before on other sites including Music Magpie, the thing that makes Trade Your Games unique is that it is the only place in the UK where users can sell games for credit to buy games off the same website just like the model that is used on the high street. (more…)

Music Magpie, the UK’s best site for selling old games, CDs and DVDs has recently launched a brand new cash for schools service.

The new service comes after a number of requests from schools wanting a quick and easy way to use the recycling service. It will allow both primary and secondary schools to sell their old and unwanted CDs and DVDS for cash payments which can be used for future projects and extra curricular activities. (more…)

Although Christmas brings fun and joy for all, the festive season is not great news for the environment. The following statistics show why Christmas is bad for the environment:

• Royal Mail delivers over 150 million cards and 1 billion end up rotting away at landfill
• 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper will be thrown in the bin (more…)

According to new figures that were published last Thursday the household recycling rate in England has gone over 40% for the first time ever.

Between April 2010 and March 2011 the average national household recycling rate was 41.2% which is up 1.5% compared to the same period last year.

The two English councils that came top of the recycling tables with record breaking rates were (more…)

Pen and stationary manufacturer, BIC has recently announced that they will be the first UK company to launch a recycling scheme for pens, markers and highlighters.

Every year over 10 million non-biodegradable pens end up at landfill sites around the world. Old pens contain nylon, polyester, polypropylene, steel and many chemicals all of which can be harmful to the environment. (more…)

The switchover to digital TV is starting to happen in some parts of the country this year and next year which may leave some people with an unwanted TV set in their homes. Most household recycling centres or local council tips around the UK will take your old TV set off you and its encouraging to know that almost 100% of the parts inside a TV can be recycled.

(more…)

University students in Newcastle are doing an experiment to what is being thrown in their bins by posting the contents on popular social networking site Facebook.

The experiment is being done to teach the students to become more efficient recyclers. A sensor and camera is put inside the bin and a photo taken of what is put inside is uploaded to Facebook. (more…)

Everyone is always talking about the things that should be sent for recycling in order to help the environment and raise the recycling rate, but nobody ever tells you what items should not be recycled. (more…)