Small electrical items and batteries will be collected from outside homes in the Royal Borough from Monday, September 30.

The new scheme, part of the Royal Borough’s contract with Serco, will mean that residents will be able to recycle unwanted small electrical items alongside their other recycling, food waste and textiles. The Royal Borough is the first council in Berkshire to offer this service from the kerbside.

All sorts of small electrical items including toasters, kettles, keyboards, hairdryers, electric shavers will be collected along with their leads and cables, as long as they fit inside a standard size carrier bag.

Residents should place unwanted small electrical items in any plastic bag and then leave the bag next to their bins on collection day. Household batteries (not including car batteries) will also be collected in the same way but need to be left in a different bag.

Cllr Gerry Clark, lead member for sustainability, waste services and economic development, said: “As part of the scheme, small electricals left out for collection will either be recycled or reused. We hope residents will take advantage of this new service and recycle as much as they can.

“The more we recycle, the better it is for our planet and the environment. Recycling is also significantly cheaper for us dispose of, meaning taxpayers money can be saved and put towards other vital services.”

All electrical items will be either reused or recycled and the various raw materials used to make new products such as the zinc in mobile phones used for galvanising railings and lamp posts and the gold found in games consoles used to make new jewellery.

Larger items, such as TVs and microwaves, will still need to be taken to a recycling centre.