If you’ve finally caught on to the InstaPot craze and are replacing your slow cooker, rice cooker and pressure cooker with the nifty new all-in-one, DON’T throw those outdated appliances in the garbage!
Working, reusable appliances and tools will find new homes through local thrift stores; those that can’t, CAN be recycled easily, for FREE, keeping tonnes of material out of our landfills each year.
Old shaver, cordless drill or bathroom scale? The ElectroRecycle program welcomes those too, among hundreds of other tools and small appliances, says Jenn Robson, with the not-for-profit ElectroRecycle.
Founded in 2011, ElectroRecycle brings together industry members from various sectors of the small household appliance and power tool industry to oversee the only program in Canada that manages the small appliances and power tools at the end of their usable life.
“We’re here to make sure that the material is diverted from the landfill, recycled responsibly and given a second life,” Robson says.
400+ products and counting!
Essentially, if a product has a plug or a battery and can be moved from the kitchen to the bathroom to the garage, it’s part of the ElectroRecycle program (as opposed to the electronics recycling program, which accepts products like TVs and computers).
In fact, the organization helps the public safely recycle more than 400 products – everything from hair dryers to power drills.
They also make it super easy, with more than 200 locations across the province to drop off your tools and small appliances for free.
“Once you drop off the product, it’s sent to processors who break it down into the component materials, such as plastic, metal and glass for recycling,” Robson explains.
What has the impact been?
- In 2019, ElectroRecycle collected approximately 5.5 million kilograms of small appliances and power tools for safe recycling
- 94 per cent of that material was recycled – material kept out of local landfills.
But as positive as recycling component materials is, the top of the pollution prevention hierarchy is “reduce,” followed by repair, Robson notes. That means the best way to prevent excess waste is by first by reducing the amount unnecessarily purchased, and second by repairing or donating when possible. That’s why the organization also partners with a variety of local repair groups and thrift stores across BC, Robson notes.
To learn more about easy, free recycling for your end-of-life small appliances and power tools, visit electrorecycle.ca
