Join Sleaford Climate Action Network and NKDC this e-waste week 10th to 15th March 2025 to find out how to safely recycle your cables and electronics.

Bring your broken items to the repair cafe, or check below for each of the venues who are collecting items.

E-Waste Action Week 10th - 15th March

Sleaford Climate Action Network is teaming up with North Kesteven District Council for ‘E Waste Action Week’ which will run from the 10th to the 15th March and ere encouraging everyone to get involved.

E-Waste is all those electrical and electronic items which we discard, everything from mobile phones, computers and cables, to TVs, toasters and kettles. It’s the fastest growing waste stream globally, as year-on-year we are buying and discarding more and more.

Research by ‘Recycle Your Electricals’ estimate that we have over 800 million unused or broken tech items in our homes, including over 600 million cables, containing 38,000 tonnes of copper, which could be used to help decarbonise our electrical supply system. Precious metals can be recovered from old mobile phones and laptops, including steel, aluminium, copper, lithium and even gold so reducing the amount needed to be mined.

Keeping items longer, (putting off an upgrade), and re-homing items when we no longer need them, ensures the embedded energy, (from making them), is most efficiently used. If it breaks see if it can be repaired and at the end of an item’s life, recycling allows valuable minerals to be recovered and used again, reducing our impact on our planet and its people, particularly in the areas where mining takes place. For more information about the Circular Economy click here scroll down.

For more information about E waste Action Week, email sleafordcan@gmail.com.

Be part of the e-waste solution!

Three Things You Can Do During E-Waste Action Week

Local Charity Shops which take working Electrical items. Please check with the shop that they are able to take your donation.

Andy's (St Andrew’s Hospice)

56 Southgate, Sleaford, NG34 7RY

Tel: 01529 413818

https://www.standrewshospice.com/Our-Shops/Details?id=539

Cancer Research

37/39 Southgate, Sleaford, NG34 7SY

Tel: 01529 414073

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/find-a-shop/sleaford

Sense

53a Southgate, Sleaford, NG34 7SY

Tel: 01529 307606

https://www.sense.org.uk/shops/sleaford/

Second Chance

30 Boston Road, Sleaford

Tel: 07522 473017

https://www.facebook.com/share/15jasySFHY/

St Barnabas (Sleaford)

Unit 2 Lincoln Road Shopping Centre, Sleaford, (next to the Co-op)

Tel: 01529 419321

https://stbarnabashospice.co.uk/shop/

St Barnabus (Ruskington)

6 High Street, Ruskington, NG34 9DT

Tel: 01526 834155

https://stbarnabashospice.co.uk/shop/

Donation Points for Mobile Phones, Tablets, Laptops, Chargers and Cables

Heckington Library (Community Hub)

Council Chambers, St Andrews Street, Heckington, NG34 9RE

Opening Times – Monday to Saturday 10am to 12pm

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/directory-record/63982/heckington-community-hub

Sleaford Library

13-16 Market Place, Sleaford, NG34 7SR

Opening Times – Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, (open until 6pm on Thursday)

Saturday 9am to 1pm

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/directory-record/64002/sleaford-library

Ruskington Methodist Church

Chapel Street Ruskington, NG34 9DX

Saturday 15th March 10am to 12pm

1. Re-home any working electrical items you no longer use. Sell them or pass them on to people who need them. Use social media or take them to these charity shops in Sleaford which take small electricals: Andy’s, Cancer Research, Sense, Second Chance and St Barnabas, (also in Ruskington). This can be done year-round. Please check with the shop before you take your item in.

2. Donate your old mobile phones, tablets, laptops, chargers and cables at these drop-off points: Heckington and Sleaford Libraries, (normal opening times), and the Ruskington Methodist Church on Saturday 15th March only, between 10am and 12 midday. From there they’ll go to Sivill Service in Tattershall, for reuse, refurbishing and, if they are ‘end-of-life’, recycling. Any data on devices will be wiped using registered data destruction software called Kill Disk on a 7x DOD standard kill, or hard drives will be destroyed. Refurbished items will be offered for re-homing in the local area via trusted good causes.

3. Bring your broken electrical and tech items to the Sleaford Repair Cafe at the Riverside Church on Saturday 15 March from 12.30 – 3pm, for repair. Get in touch to book your place at the Repair Cafe. More information about Repair Cafes get in touch with Sleaford Climate Action Network.

Climate Change and The Circular Economy – What Can I Do?

Reduce, Reuse, Repair Recycle!

Our action we can all take is to stop buying Stuff. It may sound simple but it’s our consumption that is driving Climate Change. This is through all the emissions produced from making the items we are encouraged to buy, whether it’s clothes, cars, mobile phones, or smart TV’s. Additionally our consumption is exceeding the Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources. The day in the year when we take more than our Planet can sustainably provide, is called Earth Overshoot Day. Back in 1970 Earth Overshoot Day was on 30th December, in 2023 it fell on 1st August! Our Planet can support the huge population of over 8 Billion people, but we have to live within Planetary Boundaries. For those of us living in countries which have Developed Economies we need to reduce our consumption by about 2/3, whilst in other parts of the world governments may need help to grow their economies to provide life essentials, access to clean water, food, healthcare, education, etc.

Reducing our impact by cutting consumption and eliminating waste is achievable, if we move to sustainable, circular economic systems. This graphic of the Waste Hierarchy Triangle, shows the changes we can all make.

E Waste is a particular problem and research by the Restart Project has shown that as many as 50% of electrical items taken to Recycling Centres, could in fact be Reused as they are working or may just need a simple repair. However less than 1 in 5 Recycling centres offer this service. At the Tattershall Recycling Centre a Reuse Shop has been opened on a trial basis for non electricals, click on this link to find out more,
At the Grantham Recycling Centre you can now pick up part used pots of paint.

When will we see a Reuse Shop at the Sleaford Recycling Centre, email your NKDC Cllr and ask the question?

With our new government comes a great opportunity to fully transition to a Circular Economy. We now a Government Minister, Mary Creagh, who is responsible for the Circular Economy Tash Force within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (DEFRA). She will oversea the roadmap to the UK becoming a Zero Waste Economy by 2050. In Scotland the devolved government unanimously passed the Circular Economy Bill in July, so governments are heading in the right direction. Let’s ensure the transformation of our economy is swift and we can see the benefits to our Planet very soon.

Do you need to buy a new item when you could
Borrow It instead? Many towns have a ‘Library of Stuff’ where you can borrow those things you need to use now and again but don’t need to own, so you save money too. Could we open one in Sleaford?
Try Swapping, instead of Shopping, Swishes, (Clothes Swaps) are great places to refresh your wardrobe. There are now a number of website available, (e.g vinted), where you can buy pre-loved clothes and other items, and you can also visit your local Charity shop. Use items again and again, and if it breaks,

Repair it: Repair Cafes are opening up all over the country, and we have our own Repair Cafe in Sleaford where you can get household items, clothing, tools, electrical appliances, bikes, etc, repaired for free! For more information on Repair Cafes click here. For bigger appliances you will find tradesmen locally to repair your cooker, washing machine, fridge, TV, etc. Should you find you no longer need something, don’t keep it, ‘just in case’,
Rehome It: social media can help you do this with facebook, ‘Owt for Nowt’ sites. In Grantham there is a company called Environcom where you can donate and purchase large electrical items.

Finally, when it can no longer be reused, repaired or rehomed, it’s time to Recycle It, reducing the waste we produce to a minimum.

For the full Restart Project report on Reusing Electricals click here.