Welcome to Recyclingforcash the Internet's top resource for people looking to help save the environment by recycling their old unwanted goods and at the same time earn some extra money. Don't let your attic, cupboards or drawers fill up with junk or even make the mistake of throwing old items in the dustbin. All old mobile phones, Ipods, Game discs, DVDs and CDs can be sold and recycled for cash payments.
Why Recycle
According to official statistics the UK produces over 100 million tonnes of waste from households, commerce and industries combined. Of all this waste in the UK only just over 17% is currently being recycled. This figure is still quite low in comparison to other European
countries like Austria and Belgium who are recycling over 50% of all
waste produced.
The waste that does end up in landfills is damaging to the environment as biodegradable waste generates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Also lots of energy is put into making new products which are later disposed of, this contributes in a big way to climate change.
Recycling is a great way to help conserve the environment and help to save energy. Consider the following recycling facts:
Recycling 10 tin cans would save enough energy to power a TV for 30 hours
Recycling 10 glass bottles would save enough energy to power a PC for just over 4 hours
Recycling 10 plastic bottles would save enough energy to power a 60 watt bulb for 30 hours
Why Recycle Mobile Phones and Apple I'Pods
Its estimated that in the UK there are just under 100 million phones sat around either collecting dust or or there way to landfill sites. Mobile phones contain many dangerous and toxic materials including Cadmium, Lead, Brominated flame retardants and Beryllium, these materials are associated with human diseases and can cause many problems to the environment.
Earn Cash by Recycling Your Old Mobile Phone or Ipod
By returning your old mobile to a specialized recycling company it can be disposed of correctly, this will not only help save the environment but at the same time earn you some extra money. Online recycling companies will pay you between £1 - £400 per handset that you send in. Its estimated that each home in Britain will have up to 3 old mobiles hidden away, just imagine how much cash you could make by returning your old phone(s) or Apple I-pods!
As more and more people are buying MP3 players and playing digital music, lots of CDs are being disposed of. Last year over 2500 tonnes of CDs were thrown in the bin and ended up on landfill sites. If all the old CDs people throw away each year were sent in to be recycled this would add up to a staggering £21 Million. Many computer games are also disposed of each year, as the latest games come out or the old game is completed people no longer want to play it and simply put it in the bin.
There are sites available that will allow you to return your CDs, DVDs and Games and will either re-use or recycle them correctly for you, in return they will pay you cash. To start making money from your old CDs, DVDs and Games click here.
Together we can all make a big difference to the environment and earn lots of cash at the same time, start recycling for cash today!
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.
At this time the ‘bincam’ programme is taking place in five student households in Newcastle and their recycling efforts are being accessed.
The students that set up the project say that having your rubbish posted on Facebook will help raise awareness about what needs to be recycled.
Project leader Anje Thieme said “sometimes we all get caught not recycling, if we’re tired or can’t be bothered the rubbish goes straight in the bin without a thought for disposing of it correctly.” She added “Normally when you thrown something in the bin the lid goes down and its forgotten about, but by taking a photo and uploading it to Facebook, it’s a bit like having your conscience on your shoulder.”
The project is being aimed at University students as recent research has shown that people in the age group 18-34 recycle the least.
The project seems to be working well as after 2 weeks of running the experiment the bins in the five households were emptied less frequently as more waste was being recycled.
However Privacy Advocacy Group Big Brother Watch raised concerns about the project, director Daniel Hamilton said “This sounds like an elaborate joke - except it isn’t.” He added “Encouraging people to recycle more is fine but humiliating those who don’t in public is completely outrageous.” He also said that it wouldn’t surprise him if local councils take up the idea in the future.
Environmental Waste Controls (EWC) has recently been linked to the illegal exporting of electronic waste in poor African countries including Ghana and Nigeria.
EWC is currently one of the UK’s leading waste and recycling firms. Their clients include Tesco, Asda, Barclays, the NHS and Network Rail.
A new investigation by Panorama, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and campaigners has found evidence that broken TV sets from EWC’s facilities were exported illegally to Africa. Exporting e-waste to Africa is in contravention with regulations. Under the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Resources Regulations 2006 if e-waste is found to be working when it arrives it can be exported, however broken items cannot be exported abroad.
EWC has admitted that broken TV sets and other electronic equipment from their facilities has ended up in Africa but only after being exported by a third party company. The firm say they will do everything possible to stop this from happening again in the future and have not worked with the third party company since October 2010.
The BBC TV programme Panorama which was broadcast last night (Monday 23rd May 2011) investigated the illegal trade of e-waste and showed viewers other electronic items that were being dumped in third world countries.
The programme and investigation by EIA staff found that at least 7 tonnes of broken TV sets were sold to the third party company every week for between £1.50 and £2 per set. In broken TV sets the EIA put tracking devices to see where they ended up, it was found that one broken TV ended in Ghana and one in Nigeria. The EIA said that this was not a one off and British E-waste was regularly being dumped abroad.
Under current WEEE regulations any broken TV sets that are dropped off should be sent for recycling within the UK or another developed country.
A statement from EWC said “This is completely unacceptable and EWC has put in place measures to prevent a re-occurrence of this practice and to undertake a full investigation in cooperation with the regulator and relevant authorities. We have instructed all our sub contractors that no electronic equipment deposited at designated collection facilities operated by EWC should leave the United Kingdom until further notice.”
Electronic Waste is the quickest growing waste stream in the world with over one million tonnes a year being generated in the UK and fifty million tonnes around the world. Out of all global e-waste being generated its estimated that only 10% is currently being recycled.
If you have any unwanted small electronic items such as mobile phones, digital cameras, games consoles or anything else you can recycle them for cash and do your bit for the environment at either SpeedSell or O2 Recycle.
With technology moving at a faster rate than ever before and everyone buying the latest gadgets you have to wonder what happens to all the old ones that you no longer want or need. Is there really a safe and green way to dispose of your old gadgets? Does that one extra electronic device that you throw in the bin really cause that much damage to the environment? Its time to find out…
What is Really Inside Electronic Devices?
It really is amazing what these electronic devices that we all use in our everyday lives are made up of. All electronic gadgets contain potentially hazardous and dangerous materials including mercury, arsenic, zinc, nickel, lead, gold, coltan and lots more. These metals and other materials are often found in the circuit board, battery or make up the display. Then there’s the plastic shell that contains natural gas, crude oil and other chemicals.
The big problem is not that these materials are being used to make electronic devices but exactly where they are coming from. Mobile phones for example use a mineral called coltan which is used in the electrical capacitors. The vast majority of the coltan is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo where much of the world’s gorilla population are. As more coltan is mined to be used in mobile phones this has had a devastating effect on the gorilla population as they are poached to feed the miners.
Many of the world’s natural resources are also put into manufacturing electrical equipment which is why recycling is great in order for these materials to be reused.
What Happens to Electronic Waste at Landfill
When an electronic device such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop, digital camera or anything else with a plug or battery is thrown in the bin there is only one place it will eventually end up and that is at landfill. Once there it will be smashed, cracked or burned so that all the parts inside spill out and over the next decade or century they will leach into the air and ground leading to environmental and health hazards.
It’s true that if it was just one mobile phone or digital camera sat at landfill on its own then it wouldn’t pose much of a threat to the environment. However if you take into account that last year in the UK alone over 173 million electrical goods were sold or that every person in the world owns at least one mobile phone you start to get the picture. It’s likely at this point in time that there are literally billions of tonnes of discarded devices sitting at landfill breaking down.
How E-Waste Can be Recycled
Of course the solution to the electronic waste problem is to re-use and recycle as much electronic and electrical equipment as we possibly can.
Any company that recycles e-waste will be interested in two things which are stopping old items from ending up at landfill and also getting the most value out of them. Many online companies such as SpeedSell and Boots Recycle will now buy electronic goods such as laptops, mp3 players, mobile phones and lots more in return for cash or equivalent. Selling your old goods to online companies is a great way of disposing of your small electrical devices and doing your bit for the environment.
Online recyclers at this time will only buy small electrical items which still leaves big items such as TVs, kitchen appliances, DVD players and anything else with a plug potentially going to landfill. It’s been estimated that up to 350,000 tonnes of white goods in the UK end up at landfill sites every year. In order to dispose of these items the best option would be to take them to your local council recycling site to be disposed of correctly.
Using TakeBack Schemes to Recycle Your E-Waste
Some electrical manufacturers such as Dell, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are now offering takeback schemes where they will take away your old items when you buy the latest model. These schemes are great as the company gets their product back to be recycled correctly and the consumer gets money off their new purchase.
If everyone was to start recycling and re-using their electronic equipment when they buy the latest models then the future world will be a better place to live for us all.
Recent quarterly figures published by Defra have revealed that England’s household recycling rate is now up to 40.3%.
The latest figure shows how England’s recycling rate is slowly increasing from 40.1% for the year up to June 2010.
The figures are based on information submitted by local councils top the government’s WasteDataFlow system, the system shows that the amount of household waste in England has slowly decreased from 23.6 million tonnes for the year ending June 2010 and in the last 12 months 23.4 million tonnes.
It is hoped the rise will continue so the UK can hit the revised Waste Framework Directive 50% of household waste by 2012.
The quarterly figures are the last to be published before the government issues the results of their Waste Review next month.
UK residents are being urged to cut their carbon footprints and give something back to their gardens on this Compost Awareness Week which runs until this Friday.
Not only can using home made compost help bring gardens back to life but using it will help people save the environment and money at the same time.
Compost can be made at home with household and garden waste, twigs, leaves, grass cuttings, vegetable peelings and even paper and card.
In Wales Cardiff Council have recently sold 575 compost bins and say that by using these bins to make compost over a 12 month period over 86 tonnes of waste will not end up at landfill.
Compost bins can be bought from most local councils in the UK costing around £5 or DIY stores for around £15 each.
Cloud-Apps have developed a new programme which will allow office workers to get extra pay bonuses if they recycle at work, remember to turn off their computers and walk or use public transport to get to work rather than driving.
The new programme called Sustainability Momentum or SUMO for short is downloaded onto each employees computer to monitor how much energy they are saving.
The software programme displays real time updates to help employees improve sustainability. These suggestions could include what to recycle or when to switch off all lights and computers.
At the end of the year all the totals will be added up and based on how much each company have reduced their carbon footprints and whether targets have been met then staff will be paid extra pay bonuses.
Up to now companies that have signed up for the new scheme include Veolia, the waste and recycling firm who have thousands of employees in the UK. Other companies to sign up include three of the UK’s biggest mobile phone operators and Ashridge Business School.
The Waste Recycling Group (WRG) has recently begun planting crops on old landfill sites in England in order to create biofuel.
After a successful test project in Yorkshire the new scheme was given the go ahead to plant miscanthus grass and short rotation coppice on over 100 hectares at old landfill sites.
Once the crops have been harvested they will be sold to power stations in order to make biomass fuel.
Mark Pailing, WRG Energy Crop Manager said “This is a very exciting development for the company and builds on our track record of sustainable reclamation, recycling and regeneration.”
The crops at the landfill sites can be first harvested in 3 years and every year after that they will create 8-12 tonnes per hectare.
The court date for the UK’s biggest investigation into the exportation of electronic waste (e-waste) has recently been set by the Judge for the 17th October 2011.
In the case, 14 individuals and companies have been accused of exporting illegal e-waste to developing countries.
The defendants some of which have pleaded not guilty or have chosen not to plead at this time, all face charges related to the European Waste Shipment Regulations 2006 and the Trans frontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007.
Environment Agency Enforcement Officer, Sarah Chare said “This is a crucial investigation and the first intelligence led case of it’s kind.” She added “There are clear environmental consequences of dumping computers and monitors abroad. It also has security implications for businesses such as criminals accessing data that has not been properly wiped off machines.”
According to the latest figures now the best time to recycle your gold for cash as the price of gold is set to outperform the market.
When a crisis strikes many people will invest their money in gold, therefore the price of gold will rise. Gold is like a form of crisis insurance that keeps rising.
The current price of gold is expected to rise to levels which were last seen in the 1980’s when there was trouble in Afghanistan and the price of oil was increasing.
So now is the perfect time to dig out your unwanted gold and jewellery and send it into Post Gold for Cash to earn some extra money.
Fizzy drinks manufacturer, Coca-Cola Enterprises has recently invested £5 million to help develop a new recycling facility in Lincolnshire.
Coca-Cola have signed a 10 year deal with ECO Plastics to help change an existing recycling facility in Hemswell into a purpose-built polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling facility. The new deal will mean that Coca-Cola get 40,000 tonnes a year of recycled food grade PET.
A further £10 million will be added into the project by ECO Plastics. The new recycling centre will also create 30 new jobs in the local area.
According to Defra the facility will help to double the amount of plastic bottles currently being recycled in the UK. Over 2 million plastic bottles a year can be recycled at the new site making it the most sophisticated in Europe.
Jonathan Short, ECO Plastics Managing Director said “There is huge potential in the UK market and this can only grow as the demand for low-carbon food and drink packaging increases.”
