Winter Watch – Recycling Fairy Lights and Other Electrical Items 🎄♻️

How to properly recycle

Winter Watch – Recycling Fairy Lights and Other Electrical Items 🎄♻️

I know it can feel inconvenient to recycle fairy lights properly, especially when they stop working after Christmas. Many people put them in the general waste bin because it feels quicker and easier. However, fairy lights are classed as electrical waste and must not go in normal bins.

When electrical items are placed in household waste they can cause fires in collection vehicles, damage equipment, and put waste collection staff at risk. They also end up in landfill, even though fairy lights contain metals and components that can be safely recovered and reused.

The Household Waste Recycling Centre is located at Cheney Manor. Cheney Manor is the physical site, while Swindon Borough Council manages the booking system.

How to recycle fairy lights properly:

Visit the Swindon Borough Council website and pre-book a visit to the Household Waste Recycling Centre

https://www.swindon.gov.uk/xfp/form/882

Take your fairy lights to the Household Waste Recycling Centre at Cheney Manor (Waterside Park, Darby Close, Cheney Manor, Swindon, SN2 2PN).

The Household Waste Recycling Centre can be particularly busy after Christmas, so booking ahead helps avoid delays and wasted journeys.

You can also recycle fairy lights through large electrical retailers such as Currys, which accept small electrical items even if they were not purchased there:

https://www.currys.co.uk/services/delivery-installation/recycling.html

Anything with a plug, wire, or battery needs to be recycled properly. While it may take a little more time, it helps protect staff, reduce costs, and prevent unnecessary environmental harm locally.

Please share so others know. Small actions like this make a real difference.