Mayo households urged to recycle e-waste at free collection days

Mayo householders are being urged to bring their batteries, electrical, and electronic waste to a set of free collection days to help the county meet national e-waste recycling targets for 2024.

The events, hosted by WEEE Ireland in partnership with Mayo County Council, kick off this Saturday in Belmullet.

Anything with a plug, battery, or cable can be recycled for free on the day, including old washing machines, TVs, toasters and kettles, electronic tools and toys, cables, IT equipment, mobile phones, remote controls, batteries, and even watches. 

WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan said both county and nationwide, we are ‘buying more electrical goods than ever’.

On average, people are purchasing 25kg per head in 2023 compared to 16kgs in 2018.

Statistics have shown a surge in electrical spending, especially on devices such as mobile phones, computers, small kitchen appliances and white goods.

“With old items still lying around many households we want to offer the opportunity to recycle these for free” said Mr Donovan. 

“People in Mayo have contributed greatly to e-waste recycling every year, with 1,407 tonnes of electrical waste collected in the county in 2022, and we want to encourage that trend” he added. 

Ten kg of e-waste was recycled per person in Mayo last year, which is just short of the 10.33kg per person national average.  

WEEE Ireland has warned that the nation needs to meet a forthcoming EU target to recycle at least 15 percent of our annual consumption of critical raw materials from e-waste. 

“82 percent  of all material that we collect is recovered for use again in manufacturing through both indigenous operators and specialist processors in Europe,” said Mr. Donovan. 

“Most end-of-life products contain metals and minerals in higher concentrations than primary resources.  

“These stocks of resources are the urban mines of the future, so our recycling efforts can have a significant impact on the environment” he continued.

In 2022, the equivalent of 216,157 tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided by recycling e-waste through the WEEE Ireland Scheme, which is the equivalent to the annual carbon consumption of 4,323 hectares of trees.  

WEEE Ireland accounts for over two thirds of all national waste electrical and electronics collection activity on behalf of 1,300 producer members. 

The free events are in partnership with Mayo County Council.  

Sharon Cameron at Mayo County Council called e-waste recycling ‘incredibly beneficial’ for the environment and economy.

“Together, we are diverting waste from landfill, recovering raw materials for reuse and ensuring hazardous materials are safely and responsibly disposed of,” said Ms Cameron.  

“We look forward to working with WEEE Ireland and Mayo householders to hopefully recycle a record-breaking amount of electronic waste in 2024” she concluded.

See the full list of collection events below:

Saturday, March 9: Civic Office Car Park, Church Street, Belmullet, 10am-4pm. 

Saturday, March 16: Pavilion Road Car Park, Castlebar, 10am-4pm.

Saturday March 23: Station Road Car Park, Claremorris, 10am-4pm.

Saturday, March 30: Swinford Golf Club, Deerpark, Swinford, 10am-4pm.