‘Great Cable Challenge’ encourages secondary school students to recycle

Renewi, working in partnership with Wakefield Council, is working with Recycle Your Electricals to encourage Wakefield District secondary school students to participate in The Great Cable Challenge.

This is a nationwide campaign aimed at tackling the millions of cables sitting idle across UK households. The initiative is part of this year’s International E-Waste Day which is taking place on 14 October. 

The Great Cable Challenge aims to give a second life to the valuable materials contained in cables, such as copper. Millions of cables and other electricals are sitting idle in our homes or thrown away with thousands of tonnes of copper going to waste.  

Instead, copper can be recycled into new items such as wind turbines and new tech such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smart watches. 

Participating secondary schools in Wakefield will each have a designated cable bin where students can deposit their unwanted electrical items during the two-week competition period. The school that collects the most items will win a brand-new Hisense 50” 4K TV, generously donated by Wastecare, our electrical recycling partners.

“We’re thrilled to be part of this important initiative and to see the enthusiasm from our local schools. Recycling is vital for our environment, and this competition makes it fun and rewarding for students to contribute,” said Drew Pearson, Contract Director of Renewi, Wakefield.

The good news for all residents is that it’s now easier than ever to recycle unused cables and electricals using Recycle Your Electricals’ Recycling Locator. Just enter your postcode to find your nearest recycling point which has over 26,000 locations across the UK. 

With millions of cables cluttering up UK homes, Recycle Your Electricals have published a handy Cable Guide.  With 35 of the most used cables, the guide provides easy to use visuals to match cables to their original electricals. If the electricals or the cables are no longer working or they aren’t needed anymore, simply bag up your cables and recycle them! You can view the Cable Guide at 
https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/how-do-i-sort-out-my-cables/

International E-Waste Day (IEWD) 2024 aims to encourage householders to participate in this year’s campaign by encouraging everyone to recycle their cables and their household electricals.

To find out how your school can take part, please contact:

Moira Mattingley-Nunn
Education Manager
Moira.mattingley-nunn@renewi.com