Argos recycle policy

Brie

This has been a problem for some time.  It's easy for councils to say don't put X Y Z in your normal bin or your recycle bin and suggest things go to the tip instead. Our tip is about 1km from the nearest bus stop which means people are forced to put things in their garbage bin instead, assuming the item will fit.  Shame the council doesn't have a set day quarterly perhaps for these things to be collected.

user1977

BethRobinson said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

BoGoF said:

Be_Happy said:

The staff have undergone training on this and assured there will be no further issues for takeback."

Stock response for 'we really don't care'

That's why it's worth taking the time to report these kinds of issues that most think is just minor.

If half a dozen people made the same complaint about a company action may be taken.

Argos is owned by Sainsburys who turnover something in the region of £30 billion a year, why shouldn't they have some corporate social responsibility to prevent waste polluting our planet and help to ensure precious metals are turned back in to new products to reduce the requirement, and environmental devastation that comes with it, of mining new raw materials?

What precious metals are in a kettle?

You think the staff were following a different policy for items with different metal content?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

BethRobinson said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

BoGoF said:

Be_Happy said:

The staff have undergone training on this and assured there will be no further issues for takeback."

Stock response for 'we really don't care'

That's why it's worth taking the time to report these kinds of issues that most think is just minor.

If half a dozen people made the same complaint about a company action may be taken.

Argos is owned by Sainsburys who turnover something in the region of £30 billion a year, why shouldn't they have some corporate social responsibility to prevent waste polluting our planet and help to ensure precious metals are turned back in to new products to reduce the requirement, and environmental devastation that comes with it, of mining new raw materials?

What precious metals are in a kettle?

Copper in the cable, brass in the plug pins, the body of our kettle is stainless steel and the heating element is made of various metals.

Granted I don't know how efficiently something like a kettle will be broken down and each component extracted but there's a far greater chance of that happening if it goes for recycling as opposed to ending up buried in the ground or being incinerated. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Brie said:

This has been a problem for some time.  It's easy for councils to say don't put X Y Z in your normal bin or your recycle bin and suggest things go to the tip instead. Our tip is about 1km from the nearest bus stop which means people are forced to put things in their garbage bin instead, assuming the item will fit.  Shame the council doesn't have a set day quarterly perhaps for these things to be collected.

Really all councils should be collecting small electronics but it seems to be hit and miss. 

I understand there is an element of difficulty, which is presumably why some responsibility has been shifted from the individual to the producers and retailers. 

Okell

BethRobinson said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

BoGoF said:

Be_Happy said:

The staff have undergone training on this and assured there will be no further issues for takeback."

Stock response for 'we really don't care'

That's why it's worth taking the time to report these kinds of issues that most think is just minor.

If half a dozen people made the same complaint about a company action may be taken.

Argos is owned by Sainsburys who turnover something in the region of £30 billion a year, why shouldn't they have some corporate social responsibility to prevent waste polluting our planet and help to ensure precious metals are turned back in to new products to reduce the requirement, and environmental devastation that comes with it, of mining new raw materials?

What precious metals are in a kettle?

I don't think it's about precious metals in a kettle.  I think it's about trying to ensure that certain hazardous materials (like certain metals and some plastics etc that are likely to be present in electrical items) are disposed of appropriately so that they can't contaminate waterways, landfill etc and the general environment.  That's why several layers of government - locally, nationally and internationally - have decided that disposal of electrical items needs to be carefully regulated.

Whether you agree with that policy or not is a separate issue***.  If the OP wanted to do her best to act responsibly in disposing of her kettle, I admire her for taking the trouble to do so and standing up for her principles.


***  FWIW I think it's a waste of time myself and empty virtue signalling by different levels of govt.  Developed countries missed the boat on this at least 30 years ago and we're trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.  Recycling policies in this country are inconsistent and basically pointless.  I try to be really strict about what I recycle (even though I think it's probably pointless) but I listened to a "You and Yours" on Radio 4 a few weeks ago, and I realised that half the stuff I was recycling I shouldn't have been, even though my local council's policy and the packaging told me I could.

"We're all doomed Captain Mainwaring, we're all doomed I tell you..."