From toaster to tablet: why your old electricals matter

E-waste - how big is the problem?

Most of us have a ‘drawer of doom’, full of tangled cables, broken headphones, and other electricals we no longer use. Across the UK, we’re holding onto 880 million unwanted electricals[1] - that’s an average of 30 items per household gathering dust! Discarded electricals, known as e-waste, is the fastest-growing source of waste here in the UK, and the world. In the UK, we are binning over 100,000 tonnes every year.

The problem is growing even faster with the rise of ‘FastTech’ like mini fans, vapes and fairy lights. Much like Fast Fashion, these electrical items are bought cheaply and then often binned quickly.

Why is this a problem?

• All electricals contain valuable materials like gold, copper and lithium - materials that are essential to meet the demand for the smart and green tech future. Your old toaster or laptop could go on to become anything from solar panels to life saving medical equipment.

• Binned batteries and electricals containing batteries, such as vapes and electric toothbrushes, are also causing dangerous fi res when crushed in bin and recycling lorries. This is why it is important to remind everyone that these items should never be binned.

The good news: recycling your electricals is easier than you think

Anything with a plug, battery or cable can and should always recycled - even the batteries and cables themselves. Recycling electricals cuts carbon emissions - as much as taking 3.8 million cars off the road[2] - and reduces reliance on mining for raw materials, which has detrimental environmental and social consequences.

• Repair electricals that are broken but fixable
• Donate working electricals to charities or reuse organisations like Freegle
• Sell items via platforms like Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Vinted.
• Recycle all electricals that are broken and cannot be fixed.

If you are donating or selling working tech, it’s important to correctly and safely destroy your data first - check out their handy data deletion guide, produced in collaboration with the National Cyber Security Centre and We Fight Fraud.

Recycle Your Electricals makes it easier than ever to find your local repair, donation or recycling point. Just visit their Recycling Locator, pop in your postcode and your items, and find your local drop-off points. With over 30,000 locations including charities, reuse organisations, shops with in-store drop-off points, recycling centres, on-street and community bring banks, most people are within a 15-minute walk!

Recycle Your Electricals

Recycle Your Electricals is a the UK-wide campaign making it easier for everyone to repair, donate and recycle their unwanted electricals, led by the not-for-profit Material Focus. If you want to hear more follow them on Instagram, Facebook , TikTok or Linkedin or email them at hello@materialfocus.org.uk. 

E-Waste Recycling at UCL

There are multiple ways you can recycle electricals at UCL. We recently installed e-waste bins, in partnership with UCL alumni-founded Incador as part of the Tech For Treasure campaign, at Ramsay Hall and Marshgate. Students and staff can also request e-waste collection through MyCampus.

Sources

• [1] Material Focus
• [2] Material Focus