Pulling the plug on Christmas rubbish

THE countless people that got new laptops, PCs, battery-operated toys, home appliances and any number of other electrical goods for Christmas have an issue – how to get rid of the old items that have been replaced.

Rather than putting such items, including batteries, in the garage, or, worse, leaving them out with the household rubbish for collection, there are easy ways to send these materials for recycling.

While our record in some waste areas is far from praiseworthy, electrical recycling is something Irish people do well. More than 30,000 tonnes of this equipment was collected in 2008, which put us at the top of a six nation’s recycling table, ahead of England, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy.