Bury residents are being urged to head over to Castle Leisure Centre on Friday to drop off their electrical goods which no longer work to give them a new lease of life.

Over a third of UK households have at least one redundant small electrical appliance that has the potential to be recycled.

This equates to a staggering 245,688 small appliances that either no longer work or the owner is unsure if they work in the Bury area alone.

International E-Waste Day falls on Friday, October 14 and the "Recycle Your Electricals" challenge is urging people in Bury to get involved.

It wants residents to declutter their homes of these end-of-life electricals, bag them up and bring them to the Bolton Street centre for free recycling.

The stark reality is that many small electricals end up horded away in homes and the precious materials are either lost or discarded in the household waste bin and not recycled.

This year International E-Waste Day is focused on those small electrical appliances that we no longer use but keep in drawers or cupboards under the slogan “Recycle it all no matter how small”.

According to UK research commissioned by Bury-based REPIC for International E-Waste Day, UK households are holding on to more IT equipment than any other small appliances and gadgets.

A staggering 11.7m laptops that either definitely no longer work or the owner doesn’t know if they work and 9.2m tablets, both featured in the five most-hoarded items, in first and third place, respectively.

Completing the top five most-hoarded items, not in working condition or known working condition, are headphones, USB sticks and kettles.

These items all have the potential to be recycled and contain valuable precious materials such as gold, platinum, copper, and other high-value recoverable materials.

Residents are being encouraged to look for any small electrical appliances that are no longer working or in use and take advantage of a temporary collection point that is being established for the awareness day.

Staff from Emerge Recycle, a licensed waste carrier and registered charity, will be hosting the free e-waste collection point from 9am on the day.

Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations at the council, said: “If you plan to make a journey to our centre or are passing nearby, we encourage each household to make use of this convenient, free of charge collection point and declutter at least one unused or broken small electrical appliance.

“As from our unwanted small electrical appliances, specialists can recover plastic and metals like gold, copper, steel and aluminium, which can be used to make new products – from bicycles and children’s play areas to life-saving equipment.

“It’s a very easy way for us all to make a difference to our environment by reducing the demand for new raw materials.”

The items that can be recycled are:

• Small household appliances, such as kettles, irons, toasters, personal grooming products such as electric toothbrushes and shavers, hairdryers and straighteners.

• IT and telecommunications equipment like PCs, laptops, mice, keyboard, printers/scanners and shredders.

• Consumer equipment including radios, DVD players, hi-fi systems, musical instruments and cameras.

• Electrical and electronic tools such as sewing machines, electric drills and electrical screwdrivers and small electrical gardening tools.

• Toys, leisure and sports equipment including video games, pedometers, computers and torches.

Items that won’t be accepted are:

• Large household appliances, like washing machines, electric heating appliances, cookers, televisions and fridge or freezers.

• Gas discharge lamps, fluorescent lighting and LED lighting.

• Loose batteries.

• Non-electrical accessories such as packaging, furniture, building waste and general waste.

Please remember to:

• Bring all items with their cables and plugs.

• If batteries are removable, please take these out prior to disposal and recycle separately.

• Remove any packaging and take items out of bags prior to depositing.