Organisers have done their sums and announced that a total of nine tonnes of unwanted electrical equipment was brought along to a recycling collection event in Hitchin last month – and they reckon that’s equivalent to the weight of four male white rhinos.

The electrical items collected will now be shredded and separated into different materials such as plastics and metals to be recycled into new products. This helps the environment by preventing the items from being sent to landfill sites.

North Herts District Council organises the events in partnership with waste contractors Veolia and TOC Recycling Ltd. They aim to help people dispose of small electrical items that are cluttering up homes which cannot be placed in grey recycling bins during the fortnightly kerbside collection.

The items collected at the Waste Electrical and Electronic Event (WEEE) also help to keep the cost of waste disposal down, saving council taxpayers’ money. Councillor Peter Burt, the council’s executive member for waste and recycling, said: “We would like to thank everyone who brought their unwanted items along to Hitchin to dispose of them in a safe, environmentally friendly and cost efficient way.

“We are delighted with the amount of goods that were brought along for collection. People in North Herts are already keen recyclers so to be able to give people an extra opportunity to recycle electrical goods and for it to receive such a positive response is really heart warming.”