Kitchen Appliances

Year after year the population of the E.U. throw away over 29 million tonnes of discarded waste and just under 20 percent of that sum is reclaimed for recycling according to D.E.F.R.A. - the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

Only a few other European nations achieve a recycling total of over 55 percent of their waste. Nearly all common home appliances like vacuum cleaners finally break down with continuous use and if they are beyond repair, then the only alternative is to dispose of it once and for all. But how do you dispose of it?

These days the typical high-tech vacuum cleaners are made from a large number of different materials like plastic, lightweight metal, rubber/plastics, iron and have to be recycled separately which makes the entire process that little bit more complicated. Vacuum cleaners that can no longer be fixed should not be thrown out.

Have a look around for the companies that will come around to your house to take it away for recycling as they will be very grateful to receive the appliance in order to break it down and then re-use the various components.

W.E.E.E. is an abbreviation for Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment. Their directive came into effect in 2007, and their main business is to greatly reduce the amount of this type of waste while aiming for an environmental resolution in the form of re-using and recycling electrical products.

Before you choose to finally discard of your old vacuum cleaner, maybe it is worth looking around the internet or even locally to see if a company or individual can mend it, and if not, it's possible that you could sell some of the parts to get a little cash.

Electrolux launched their famous 'Vac From The Sea' recycling campaign a few years ago by manufacturing 6 sales room vacuum cleaners which were made from over 69 percent recycled plastic. This plastic was recovered from the drifting masses of plastic bits and pieces floating about in the worlds oceans.

For each multi coloured 'plastic decorated' vacuum cleaner that they created - that plastic came from the largest oceans, eg Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean, North Sea and The Baltic sea. This effort was to highlight how polluted our seas are and to curb illegal dumping in the oceans.

More than 65 percent of all electrical and electronic goods including computers and televisions eventually get thrown out and end up in landfill sites in every country in the world and this figure increases every year by six percent. Dangerous chemical waste emits from these appliances and ends up in the ground or in rivers.

They also turn up in drinking water reservoirs, which in turn contributes to a very negative affect on wildlife and humans. Most of these disposable appliances can be recycled or even repaired as we must reduce the speed that we damage the earth.

Thankfully most of the major vacuum cleaner manufacturers are very environmentally conscious of their actions regarding the actual construction and lifespan of their products, and have made plenty of provision for the recycling of their vacuum cleaners after they have come to the end of their working life. In fact some vacuum cleaner producers will come round to your home and take away your old machine for recycling as they deliver your new vacuum.

Most vacuum companies have their own vacuum cleaner recycling programme. See more about recycling and various vacuum cleaners on my site, and you could find a great Miele canister vacuum there too.