Between Black Friday and Christmas 2021 UK Households bought nearly 40 million electrical items. This resulted in 4.2 million unwanted electrical items being abandoned, either by storing 2.2 million items or with 2 million items being thrown away.

2 million items is a huge figure considering that the UK only manage to recycle 31.2% of its e-waste, this means that there is a huge amount of e-waste that is either incinerated or put into landfill.

What is e-waste?

E-waste is any electrical or electronic equipment that’s been discarded. This includes working and broken items that are thrown into refuge. E-waste is particularly dangerous due to toxic chemicals that naturally leach from the metals inside when buried.

Some tips to reduce your e-waste:

1. Ignore the advertising, ignore the pressure, and resist the need to buy the latest electronic device. Do you need a new one or can you extend the life of your existing tech?
2. Have the outdated component of an electronic product refurbished or upgraded instead of buying an entirely new replacement.
3. If the electronic item does need replacing then don’t throw the old one away with your standard waste. Take it to the tip and put it in the appropriate area so that it has a greater chance of being recycled
4. Donate usable IT equipment to charities such as Computers for Charity who will refurbish your unwanted computers and then send them to places like Africa where there is less access to technology.
5. Visit the manufacturer’s website or call the dealer to find out if they have a takeback program or scheme for your discarded electronics.
6. Earn from your e-waste, there are several websites that will buy your tech from you. If you are wanting to get something new then don’t just throw your old item away. Instead send it somewhere like, musicmagpie.co.uk, or money4mytech.co.uk where they will give you money back for your techs.