This Group has a very active band of Litter Pickers in and around Hythe who usually meet on the 1st Saturday of the month.(see “Events” Calendar and our FB Page). However, the focus has to be on “how do we stop people discarding waste, how do we encourage manufacturers and suppliers to reduce packaging waste and how do we achieve a culture whereby the public expect their environment to be waste free. The Group therefore also aims to understand what happens to domestic waste in Shepway and to educate people how to best dispose of waste for effective recycling.

Ranges beach clean resized

Litter Picking on the coast behind the Hythe Ranges.

Visit to Smurfit Waste Paper Recycling Plant.

See Video

Visit to SWEEEP to see how electronic waste from the whole of the South of England is broken down for recycling.

The Allington site visited to see how all non-recyclable waste is incinerated and converted into electrical energy, fed into the grid.

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YOUR GUIDE TO ALL LOCAL RE-USE AND RECYCLING OPTIONS.

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NEW ELECTRICAL WASTE DROP OFF POINT IN HYTHE HIGH STREET

During a visit to SWEEEP, the electronic recycling centre which takes E-waste from the whole of the south of England, we were highly impressed by their 75% effective recycling of electronic waste into its component elements for reuse. However, as only about 25% of E-waste makes it to the plant, we were all horrified by the missed opportunity for recycling and reclaiming valuable materials and were determined to do something about it in our locality. Large quantities of small electricals (toasters, kettles, radios, hair dryers etc) which people either don’t know can be recycled at the dump; cannot be bothered to or have difficulty taking to the dump, go into the household waste and in this area on to Allington https://kentenviropower.fccenvironment.co.uk/  where they are incinerated.

This is a depressing waste of our earth’s resources causing destruction of valuable raw materials. New devices have to be manufactured using virgin materials drawn from nature, these materials often being mined by unethical regimes and using processes which are highly polluting.
 Recycling our electricals could save as much as 2.8 tonnes of C02 – the equivalent of taking 1.3 million cars off the road (recycle your electricals)
E-waste is also turned into items such as play equipment, bikes, ethical jewellery and  lifesaving equipment such as defibrillators.
Hythe ECG in conjunction with “The Open Door Project” is creating a local E-Waste drop off point at 101 Hythe High Street (Launching on 10th December 2022) and hopes to encourage people to bring their small waste electricals into town when they are shopping rather than dropping it in their domestic waste bin. The Drop Off will be manned by volunteers who can also advise on general recycling, promote the work of the Hythe Environmental Group and oversee the Drop Off. When we have collected a sufficient amount, SWEEP will send a van down to take it back for recycling. Publicity and education will be key factors for success to raise awareness of the issues and the new facility which will be significantly less hassle than taking these broken or unwanted electricals to Ross Way Waste Recycling Centre.
SEE Below For Details