Cash prizes in exchange for junk at recycling centres

From hair-dryers to hedge-trimmers, fairy lights to fridges and toasters to TVs, there’s a wide range of household appliances you can take to Derbyshire County Council’s recycling centres before 19 February, in exchange for a golden ticket – which means you could be quids in.

Pick up your golden ticket from a member of staff at any of the county council’s nine recycling centres, type in your unique ticket number online at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/electric and find out if you’re an instant winner of a £100 payout.. The more items you recycle, the more tickets you’ll get.

Coun Paul Dunn, Derbyshire County Council’s deputy cabinet member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “This is an ideal time of year for residents to sort out their electrical items. Some may be broken and others may have been replaced by newer versions. We want all the broken and unwanted ones for recycling as this can help to save money for all of us.

“It is a worrying fact that we currently throw away more than a quarter of the electrical items we buy in the UK rather than recycling them. In Derbyshire, this contributes to the £20 million cost of dealing with waste which isn’t recycled each year – money which could be better spent on vital services at a time when councils are getting less money from central government.

“If every household in Derbyshire took just one electrical item it would mean more than 333,000 appliances being recycled, saving precious metals and other valuable materials they contain as well as saving council tax-payers’ money. So take those broken, old or unused items to your local recycling centre.”