Missing out on potential income from recycling unused electronic equipment

(20/07/2010)

According to new research from Redeem, every Brit owns at least one gadget which is no longer in use, amounting to nearly 80 million old electronic devices lying unused in people’s homes. The research into Britain’s gadget disposal habits shows that we are missing out on more than £390 million of potential income from recycling our unused electronic equipment.

Mobile phones top the list of unused electronic equipment with four in ten (41%) Brits owning at least one mobile phone which is no longer in use, amounting to nearly 32 million handsets gathering dust. If every Brit were to recycle their unused phones, they would stand to recoup a total of nearly £160 million. However, it’s not just old mobiles that are clogging up people’s drawers and cupboards. A fifth of all Brits (22%) already own an iPod or other MP3 which is no longer in use. The same number (21%) of people have an unused digital camera and one in eight (12%) has an old laptop.

The research also reveals a worrying tendency for Brits to throw away their old gadgets, resulting in an increase in the amount of e-waste being sent to landfill sites releasing toxic substances which are damaging the environment. In total, a quarter (25%) of Brits have thrown away an old electronic device. Of these, 11% have thrown away an old mobile phone, 9% an old iPod or MP3, and 5% an old laptop.

The problem of e-disposal is compounded by the frequency with which we are now upgrading our gadgets. Three quarters of owners (75%) have upgraded their phone within the last two years with nearly nine in ten (85%) iPod owners upgrading their models during the same period. Looking ahead, nearly half (48%) of mobile owners are looking to upgrade their mobile within the next year. The findings support the results of a recent report by the UN, which showed that e-waste is growing at a rate of about 40 million tonnes per year globally as consumers, in both developed and developing nations, buy new gadgets and discard their old ones.

One of the main reasons for Britain’s stockpile of unwanted gadgets is that three quarters (75%) of Brits remain unaware of their options for either selling or trading in old electronic equipment In fact, only 14% have ever used a recycling or trade-in service, despite the increasing prevalence of services such as money4urmobile.com or mobilecashmonster.com.

The biggest culprits, when it comes to hoarding old mobile phones, are those aged between 25 and 34 with nearly six in 10 (59%) owning at least one unused mobile phone. Men are more prone to hoard with nearly half (47%) clinging on to old handsets compared to just over a third (36%) of women.

Commenting on the findings, Jamie Rae, chief executive, Redeem, said: “Nobody would throw hard cash in the bin, but by discarding old electronic equipment, such as mobile phones, iPods and cameras, people are effectively chucking money into a landfill site. As this reports shows, the issue of e-waste will not disappear, so we need to make sure that consumers are aware of their options when looking to dispose of old gadgets. It only takes a few minutes to dig out your old devices, but it could help to avert further damage to our environment whilst helping to line the nation’s pockets at a time when every penny counts. When it comes to phones, for example, newer models such as BlackBerry and iPhone can fetch between £50 and £300 per phone – a significant sum of money for most of us.”

Related categories:  Electronic and electrical waste recycling