Our household hoards of unused electricals and broken tech are growing, recycling campaigners warn
BBC. Household hoards of unused electricals and broken tech are growing, a recycling campaign group warns.
The group - which runs an electricals recycling campaign and postcode search for householders to find drop off points - estimates over 880 million unused items are being held in UK homes.
Justin Greenaway, commercial manager of SWEEEP, a specialist household electrical recycling centre, says that whenever there's anything complicated going on inside a computer, with lots of data moving around, all the connections need to be finished with gold to stop the data becoming corrupted.
"It's not just about recycling electricals... It's about getting the value out of them," Sarah Burns, the sustainability and engagement manager from Bristol Waste says.
"The first thing we would look to do is to reduce the electrical items in the first place."
One way of keeping unused electrical items in circulation to extend that value, is to share them.
Anna Perry says every household has a collection of unused and broken electricals.
"If you're lucky enough to have a spare laptop or smart device, search"recycle your electricals" and you'll see reuse and drop off points where people can donate to those in need," adds Scott Butler from Material Focus.
Data from Material Focus suggests households are throwing away 103,000 tonnes of electricals, rather than recycling them.
The organisation also estimates that 343,000 tonnes of electrical waste is being stolen from within the waste system or illegally exported.