We’ve teamed up with Dorset Repair Cafes to create an innovative and exciting way to recycle your small electrical items. Explore the repair cafes taking part in this project!

About the Project

Litter Free Dorset’s Electrical Reuse Project aims to close the loop on electrical waste by increasing the capture and reuse of unwanted small household electricals. In collaboration with Dorset Repair Cafés, the project will offer household collections, carry out repairs and PAT testing, and redistribute items via community ‘Give and Take’ events and partner organisations. 

The project is part of the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, funded by Material Focus.

How it works

• Check if we offer household collections in your area, and book a time slot HERE
• We will collect your unwanted small electricals and take it to our secure storage and repair facility.
• If your area is not covered by our home collections, you can drop off your unwanted small electricals at a local collection point. Find your nearest collection point HERE
• Each item will be inspected and PAT tested by our repair café volunteers. Any small and affordable repairs will be undertaken by the volunteers.
• All items suitable for redistribution will be available at one of our Give or Take days. Find your nearest event HERE
• Any items leftover will be given to partners such as Dorset Reclaim and local food banks for redistribution.
• Any items that are unrepairable will be collected by our waste contractor for recycling.

Electrical Waste (WEEE) Recycling in Dorset

Dorset Council collected 1981 tonnes of WEEE in the 2023/24 financial year. This was split between small appliances, televisions, and fridge-freezers as follows; SDA: 1311 tonnes, TV’s: 262 tonnes and ELFS: 408 tonnes.

Until late 2023, there were also two WEEE bring banks in Dorset operated by Dorset Council Waste Services.  In the first 6 months of 2023 5.82 tonnes was collected at bring banks, which showed an upward trend on the first year (2019) which took in 6.39 tonnes in 12 months. The steady and consistent increase in electrical recycling at bring banks implied that households would benefit from an alternative collection stream, in addition to HRC’s. Unfortunately bring banks were removed in 2023 due to high levels of fly-tipping and contamination.

Book Your Small Electricals Home Collection

We can offer home collections for residents living within the following post codes. If you eligible for a home collection, please follow the corresponding link to book your time slot.

• Dorchester Available to households within DT1. Bookings for this collection are not yet open.
• Weymouth Available to households within DT4 and Radipole. Bookings for this collection are not yet open.
• Blandford Available to households within central Blandford. Bookings for this collection are not yet open.
• Wimborne Available to households within central Wimborne. Bookings for this collection are not yet open.
• Sherborne Available to households within central Sherborne. Bookings for this collection are not yet open.

Use the map to see if your household is covered in our Home Collection service.

If your area is not covered by our home collection service you can drop off your unwanted electricals at the following locations:

• Dorchester – 7th-16th April at County Hall, and Saturday 31st May at the United Church.
• Weymouth – Saturday 28th June at Willowbed Hall.
• Blandford – Saturday 12th July at the Parish Centre.
• Sherborne – Saturday 20th September at Digby Hall, Hound Street.
• Wimborne – Saturday 1st November at Wimborne Community Centre.

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Give or Take Events

Our Give or Take events are open to everyone to attend. We will have a huge range of pre-loved small electricals available. All items have been PAT tested. There will be a nominal charge for these items, or donations are welcome, which allows us to continue repairing, reusing, and redistributing unwanted small electricals in Dorset. We hope to see you at one of the following events!

• Dorchester – Saturday 31st May at the United Church.
• Weymouth – Saturday 28th June at Willowbed Hall.
• Blandford – Saturday 12th July at the Parish Centre.
• Sherborne – Saturday 20th September at Digby Hall, Hound Street.
• Wimborne – Saturday 1st November at Wimborne Community Centre.
• Gillingham (venue/dates tbc)