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Smylers @smylers.uk · 11m

For balance, I also like the similar pedestrian improvements outside Leeds station!

It's almost like there are some experts just getting on with making life better for pedestrians, regardless of any national politicians' posturing or encouraging outrage …

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 14m

I love how pleasant and easy it is to walk from Forster Square station to, say, the Alhambra/media museum now (via the gorgeous Waterstones, of course).

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 17h

Go on … what kind of requests?

It's decades since I was involved in a conference, and I can't think of speakers making any requests beyond “I need to be at the airport by 5, so don't put me in the final slot.”

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 18h

In the supermarket I saw our MP scurrying past, grabbing an apple and looking like they wanted to do their shopping and be out of there.

Partway round, I saw them waylayed by a constituent. As I was leaving, another person had joined the chat.

It may be some time till they get to eat that apple …

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

[Right, I need a break to do something else with my life.

To Be Continued …]

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

… which rather undermines the purpose of a national put-in-your-postcode-and-we'll-tell-you-where-to-recycle website, if after giving you locations, there's a caveat saying we may not be eligible to use it.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

The first place it suggests is a “Local authority recycling centre” over the border in a Leeds council area. We live in a Bradford area. www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/electrical-r...

And they don't actually know whether I can use it, telling me to check elsewhere:

What else do I need to know?

You may only be able to visit this recycling centre if you are a local resident of the borough. Check your local authority's website for details.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Putting in ‘Ilkley’, ‘microwave’, and ‘recycle’ gives a list, starting with the council tips I already know about but which are a struggle to get to by public transport (and even more so if you have a weekday daytime job and don't want to use up annual leave just to throw out a microwave).

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Fortunately, one of the other shops did, as an alternative to their own recycling, because I already have tab open for it. I've forgotten which, and this whole palaver has been so soul-sapping that I can't be bothered to go back and check.

Anyway, it's here: www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk

Recycle Your Electricals - WEEE Recycling - Material Focus

Recycle Your Electricals. Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled. Use our recycling locator to find your nearest recycling point.

www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

I do like how Swan tell me “Be sure to check for the nearest WEEE recycling centre to you”, like I might have thoughtlessly chosen one miles away and inconvenienced myself without Swan being there to point it out?

Note they don't even bother to link to how to find a WEEE recycling centre.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

It doesn't sound like that meets the regulations on the gov webpage linked at the start of this thread, but maybe there's an exception for small online-only shops that isn't mentioned in the gov's consumer-facing overview?

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Our new microwave is by Swan. They have their own UK online shop. Let's see whether they'll take our old one. They have a recycling page: shop.swan-brand.co.uk/pages/recycle

That'll be ‘no’, then. At least it's a quick ‘no’, rather than the looking-like-‘yes’-but-not-actually of some of the others.

Recycling your appliances
Did you know, as well as recycling standard paper/ plastic packaging, you can also recycle your old appliances free of charge at any WEEE recycling centre established by local authorities. Be sure to check for the nearest WEEE recycling centre to you.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

I also tried Amazon's link for >30 kg items, to see if that was any better. It span for a while, then took me to a blank page.

Let's try somebody else.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Let's try that first option and see where our nearest drop-off point is.

Oh.

Yep, the Amazon UK website links to a UPS location finder only for USA addresses! www.ups.com/us/en/busine...

Again, it's like they don't actually care.

At least Robert Dyas was only in London!

Find a UPS Location
Enter Address: Ilkley Look Up >
Ilkley Moor Ln, Ellicott City, MD USA
Ilkley Circle, Cheapspake, VA, USA
Ilkley Lane, Horizon City, TX, USA

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Back to Amazon's appliance recycling, which depends on its weight: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/cust...

< 30 kg: collection by Landbell group
> 30 kg: home-pick up by Landbell group

Um. is that actually different?

Anyway, let's hope our old microwave isn't *exactly* 30 kg and fall outside of both …

For equipment weighing less than 30kg, you can create and print a prepaid label with the Landbell Group. Once your item is properly packed, you can bring it to one of the drop-off points or arrange for a collection.

Temperature exchange equipment cannot be sent for recycling via prepaid shipping label (as described above). Instead, you can drop it off at collection points or request a pick-up. Temperature exchange equipment includes refrigerators, freezers, equipment which automatically delivers cold products, air conditioning equipment, dehumidifying equipment, heat pumps, radiators containing oil and other temperature exchange equipment which use fluids other than water for the temperature exchange.

For equipment weighing more than 30kg or with larger dimensions at 120 x 60 x 60 cm, you can request a free of charge home-pick up with the Landbell Group. Please provide the order number of the new item you are purchasing at the time of the recycling collection request. Once your request is validated, they will contact you to arrange a suitable time for collection.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Yup, Amazon have just repeated the category name in alt text for the photos, meaning that those using it get everything twice. Useless!

Oh, except for “Packaging” which they get 3 times, cos Amazon re-used “Packing” as the alt text on the textiles image, like they don't actually care or something.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

A sidebar on Amazon's choice of alt text. For each category on that page seeing users get a photo and caption. Those using screen readers? Well:

“Battery
Batteries
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Clothing and Textile
Light Bulb
Light Bulbs
Engine Oil
Engine Oil
PV panel
Photovoltaic Panels”

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Amazon? Their tax-dodging harms the country and I refuse to use them for anything we can get elsewhere (even when it costs more), but maybe they actually provide appliance recycling?

This page linked from their footer is hopeful: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/browse.ht...

Amazon helps you recycle products you no longer need

Click on the images below to find out more about how to recycle products from our waste management program

Electrical & Electronic Equipment
Batteries
Packaging
Clothing and Textile
Light Bulbs
Engine Oil
Photovoltaic Panels

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

I'm not prepared to order without knowing they'd definitely collect the old one, so Currys *might* be a possibility but would involve the hassle of contacting them first to find out.

This is all so much hassle!! Somebody just provide what the regulations say you have to!!

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

They also *might* take small items, such as kettles and toasters. A microwave is bigger than their example small items (which are all things I could easily carry to recycle anywhere on foot) but smaller than their listed big items, so it isn't clear which way it goes.

Small appliances

If there's room on our delivery van, we can remove & recycle small appliances free of charge. Examples of these small appliances include kettles, toasters, vacuum cleaners etc.

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

… I can't find how to add “recycling services” to the basked on the Currys website. Ah, maybe they don't take microwaves. Do microwaves count as “ovens”? Otherwise it isn't in their list:

Large appliances

We recycle these appliances:

Washing machines, washer dryers & tumble dryers

Dishwashers

Fridges, freezers & fridge freezers

Cookers, ovens, gas hobs, electric hobs & hoods

TVs over 44"

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Presumably the recycling is still free and the £20+ is for the collection. Which is sort-of fair enough, except in this scenario they would be there anyway, having turned up to deliver our new microwave, so the collection literally costs them nothing!

But more to the point …

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

Currys offer recycling appliances on delivery. That sounds more like it — just add “recycling service to your online basket”: www.currys.co.uk/services/del...

Of course “as little as £20” means “at least £20”, which isn't the “free” that the government says.

Recycling appliances on delivery

We can remove & recycle your old appliance when we deliver your new one for as little as £20, depending on what you want us to recycle. Just add our recycling service to your online basket and we'll do the rest!

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

What about Ryman? Ryman! What's a stationery shop doing selling microwaves? Oh, same owner as Robert Dyas, so flogging stock on both websites. www.ryman.co.uk/environment

Same “bring it in” deal, but at least they're only in Leeds. Possible with the trolley, but not massively convenient.

WEEE (The Waste Electrical or Electronic Equipment)
Buying a new electrical or electronic item from us?

We'll recycle the one you’re replacing for free. Simply bring the old electrical item in within 28 days, show us the receipt for its replacement and we’ll do the rest.

You can also find local recycling points for your old electricals here

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Smylers @smylers.uk · 21h

There's an Asda 15 min from my work, so if I took the old microwave on the train to work — using the trolley we bought for going on holiday — I could trundle it there.

Easier than getting to a council tip, but I'd want to know they'd definitely take it before doing that.

A festival-style trolley on a train, with multiple small bags packed inside it

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