Embargoed for publication until 00.01 Friday 26th November
Bristol sparks change in dealing with e-waste • Black Friday Giveaway launches at #ElectricAvenue pop-up shop to give unwanted electrical items a new home and inspire residents to be e-waste savvy
Pre-loved lamps, keyboards, blenders and slow cookers are just some of the items up for grabs in a new #ElectricAvenue pop-up store designed to help tackle electrical waste (e-waste) launching in the Galleries, Bristol this Black Friday (26th November). The Black Friday Giveaway will hand out electrical items recently donated by households across Bristol which have been cleaned, repaired, safety checked and are now looking for a new home. The pop-up shop will open for 10 days from 26th November until 5th December. Customers will be able to take an item home for free and are also being encouraged to donate a working electrical item they no longer want which will be re-homed. These can be taken to the store directly or dropped off at the Reuse Shop in Avonmouth*. The #ElectricAvenue campaign is a pilot project being run by environmental charity Hubbub and Bristol Waste Company and funded by Ecosurety. It aims to show consumers that second-hand electricals still have value and highlight the environmental impact of e-waste – one of the world’s fastest growing and most toxic waste streams. Only 20% of e-waste is currently recycled globally1 and a recent report revealed in October that waste electronics in 2021 will weigh more than the Great Wall of China2. After Norway, the UK produces the second most electrical waste per person in the world. As well as extending the life of electrical items, the project is keen to highlight the value of materials they contain, such as metals which are finite resources and should be recovered in the recycling process and not put in general waste streams. Gavin Ellis, Co-founder of Hubbub said: “Whilst it’s easy to be lured by Black Friday deals, our electrifying new pop-up shop aims to challenge the need to buy brand new and shines a spotlight on the value of electrical items that are often disposed of when they’re no longer needed. Many of us have unused electronics gathering dust in their home and we’re keen to show that these items can go on to have another life, bringing joy to another household without the environmental or financial cost. “Electric Avenue will provide information about what to do with electrical waste and signpost local services which can ensure they are either reused, recycled or disposed of responsibly.”
Gwen Frost from Bristol Waste said: “It’s time to turn Black Friday, green. Choosing pre-loved items isn’t just good for your pocket, it’s good for the environment too, saving valuable resources from being chucked away. “Not knowing how to fix a broken electrical item can stump many of us, but with a little help from a local organisation, you could bring it back to life for yourself, or for a new home. You can donate items at our Recycling Centres, take them to a repair café, or look up how to do a quick fix online. And if it really is beyond repair, leave it out in an untied bag with your recycling and we’ll make sure those precious materials get turned into something new.” Councillor Nicola Beech, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Climate, Ecology, Waste and Energy at Bristol City Council, said: “Bristol is on a mission to reduce the amount of waste we produce as a city. Together, in the past year, we’ve prevented 175,000 tonnes of waste going into landfill, with more than 84,000 tonnes of waste being recycled or composted. “Electric Avenue is a great way to reduce electrical waste and increase digital access for those who need it, including families and schools. The exciting pop-up shop will find new homes for Bristol’s electrical waste and get us all thinking about how we can reuse more and waste less. Please, have a search at home to uncover forgotten electricals that can be put to work again and help Bristol Waste nothing.” Stephanie Housty from Ecosurety said: “We are very excited to launch this pilot campaign in Ecosurety’s home city of Bristol. The growing amount of e-waste is still a relatively unknown issue for most citizens as other waste materials such as plastic have been in the spotlight in the last few years. We know consumers want to do their bit to save the planet, but they don’t always know that disposing properly of their old electricals is one of the actions that can make a difference. With Electric Avenue we encourage citizens to move up the e-waste hierarchy by promoting repair, reuse or donation of their unwanted electricals, before hoarding, recycling, or worse, throwing them away.” The Black Friday Giveaway will take place at: The Galleries, 25 Union Gallery, Broadmead, Bristol, BS1 3XD. Opening hours are: 10am – 6pm Monday – Saturday; 10am – 5pm Sunday. Any electrical item that is in working condition will be accepted as long as it has a plug and can be lifted by one person. For more information visit https://bristolwastecompany.co.uk/electric-avenue/ Information for Bristol residents: 1. Repair old appliances For further information on how to repair things in Bristol visit: https://www.sharebristol.org. uk/repair-things/ Here is a list of local repair cafés in Bristol:
• BRISTOL Repair Café: The original repair café, with a good events listing of all the repair cafés across Bristol where they don’t have their own online presence www. facebook.com/groups/bristolrepaircafe
• BS3 Repair Café: www.facebook.com/BS3RepairCafe
• Brislington and St Anne’s Repair Café: www.facebook.com/BS4repair • Page Park Repair Café: Hosted by Bean Tree Cafe, Staple Hill www.facebook.com/ beantreecafebristol
• Stockwood Repair Café: www.facebook.com/StockwoodRepairCafe • Winterbourne Share and Repair Café: Held by Winterbourne and Frome Valley Environmental Group on the 3rd Saturday of each month (with a break in the summer) www.facebook.com/interbourneEnvironmentalGroup
2. Donate or sell unwanted items
• Visit the Bristol Reuse Shop to donate any pre-loved electrical items – https:// bristolwastecompany.co.uk/reuse/
• Otherwise you can use apps such as Olio, Freegle, Freecycle, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace or more to sell or pass on your tech.
3. Recycle items at the end of its life – https://www.bristol.gov.uk/bins-recycling/tips-and- recycling-centres 4. Buy second-hand if possible **** ENDS **** For more information, please contact: Maria Kortbech | maria.kortbech@barleycommunications.co.uk | 07952 507 270
N O T E S T O E D I T O R S 1 Reconome 2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58885143 *Bristol’s recycling centres do accept electrical products to be rehomed or recycled but they may not be placed directly in the Electric Avenue pop up shop.
A B O U T H U B B U B Hubbub is an award-winning charity and social enterprise that inspires ways of living that are good for the environment - disrupting the status quo to raise awareness, nudge behaviours and shape systems. Their aim is to revolutionise communications with the public about environmental issues - using everyday language and good design to make environmental actions desirable and tapping into things people are passionate about such as food, fashion, homes and neighbourhoods. This innovative approach saw Hubbub win the Charity of the Year Award at the prestigious Charity Times Awards in 2020. Since its formation in 2014, Hubbub has delivered more than 60 trailblazing environmental campaigns in collaboration with over 700 partners, helping to shift the national debate on key environmental issues such as food waste, sustainable fashion, air pollution and recycling. Hubbub’s campaigns include #LeedsByExample which brought together 25 of the UK’s largest companies to boost recycling on the high street, a 3-year partnership with IKEA to create the world’s largest consumer-facing sustainability campaign ‘Live Lagom’
and creating a Network of 200 Community Fridges across the UK, each redistributing on average 2.4 tonnes of food every month that would otherwise have gone to waste. https://www.hubbub.org.uk/ Twitter: @hubbubuk Facebook: @HubbubUK Instagram: @helloHubbub LinkedIn: Hubbub-UK
A B O U T B R I S T O L WA S T E
Bristol Waste Company is the city’s local recycling, waste collection and street cleansing company. They also run the two Household Waste Recycling Centres in the city, and are working closely with Bristol City Council to build a third. As well as taking care of resident’s waste and recycling, they run a commercial waste service, offering local businesses tailored, cost effective recycling and waste solutions. www.bristolwastecompany.co.uk For media enquiries: Emma Russell, Head of Marketing and Communications, on emma.russell@bristolwastecompany.co.uk or 07733267654
ABOUT ECOSURETY
Ecosurety is the market leading compliance scheme investing in quality recycling. It works on behalf of its customers to ensure they comply with the UK’s packaging, e-waste and batteries environmental regulations. Ecosurety supports efficient and transparent investment in UK recycling projects through improved infrastructure, innovation and consumer awareness campaigns. As the only B Corp certified compliance scheme in the UK, Ecosurety is committed to the balancing of profit with social and environmental performance. Ecosurety seeks to deliver change for good for its staff and its community, as well as helping businesses minimise the impact of their products on the environment and drive a tangible increase in UK recycling capacity. For more information please visit www.ecosurety.com