Household recycling twenty years ago amounted to little more than the occasional trip to the bottle bank to sort through your clear and coloured glass, but how things change. Now it’s a common sight to see our green, blue and brown recycling bins expectantly lined up at the side of the kerb, brimming over with recyclable materials ripe for reuse. Though today we’re all more familiar with recycling, it may shock you to learn that the recycling of waste electrical goods (referred to as ‘WEEE’) still poses a significant issue in the UK. It’s estimated that less than a third of the total amount of electricals bought are recycled at the end of their lifetimes, a staggering amount when you consider the size of our population. Getting informed about recycling waste electronics benefits everyone, whether directly or indirectly, and if we all do our bit, we can easily improve those figures.
What is WEEE recycling?
Regulations governing the recycling of electricals came into force in 2007 to help reduce the amount of waste going into landfill and to curtail this staggering misuse of reusable materials. The unfortunate acronym ‘WEEE’ stands for ‘Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ and is an umbrella term surrounding the recycling of household electronics large and small, such as fridges, computers, TV’s, mobile phones and even mp3 players. Technology and fashion moves at an incredibly fast pace in the developed world as companies constantly innovate and improve their products, leading us to upgrade and discard older models frequently. In an age of disposable goods and constant trend changes, it’s important now more than ever for recycling of these products to be taken seriously.
Why is it so important to recycle electricals?
170 million electrical items are bought in the UK each year and many of us don’t know what to do with these products when they eventually reach their end. They’re stuffed into drawers and forgotten about, kept in boxes of miscellaneous chargers and cables, or just carelessly thrown away with the rest of the general rubbish. It’s a tremendous shame when you consider that much of the components of these goods can be reused and re-purposed. Aluminium is a fantastic example of why recycling is so important as it doesn’t degrade in quality through the recycling process. In fact, reprocessing recycled aluminium takes just 5% of the energy required compared to the energy used when it was originally produced. Alupro, the aluminium packaging recycling organisation, estimate that 75% of the aluminium ever made is still in use to this day!
Materials that can be reclaimed from WEEE products
It’s not just aluminium that can be re-used though. If you take a glance at the electrical goods that might be near you right now, chances are that they contain at least some materials that can be recycled into something new. The steel from your computer casing could be melted down and turned into machine parts. The plastic around your monitor screen could be turned into stationary. Even the circuit boards have their use, as they contain various precious metals such as gold, platinum and palladium. Though they may exist in small quantities, it all adds up once it’s reclaimed from the millions of products that contain these constituent parts. Just imagine the possibilities! Your recycled electricals could be transformed into just about anything. They might turn into a vital component for the engine of a ship, a pontoon bobbing around off the coast of a beautiful sunny beach, or perhaps just a tray for a supermarket ready meal.
Why electricals should be disposed of carefully
Taking better care of the resources we have available is part of the reason it’s so important to dispose of WEEE products properly. The other main reason we need to be more mindful of how we discard electronics is because of the health risks they pose to people and the environment. You’ll likely already be aware of rules surrounding the disposal of larger appliances, such as fridges, which contain harmful chemicals like HCFC’s. What you may not be aware of is that even smaller electricals include potentially damaging substances such as cadmium and lithium, present in many batteries; lead, found in solder and circuit boards; mercury, used in older flat-screen displays; and polluting chlorinated plastics.
These substances can seep into the ground, contaminating the surrounding environment, leading to these harmful toxins being absorbed by local plants and wildlife. If you think that this doesn’t affect you, think again. Metals like cadmium accumulate down the food chain due to its long half-life in the body and its toxicity can cause kidney damage and osteoporosis. A vegetable field growing near a landfill site could potentially become contaminated with these dangerous substances and pass them on to the people eating the contaminated produce. Whatever waste we put into the environment will come back to haunt us in one way or another, so reducing or eliminating it where possible is always the more sensible solution.
What can be recycled?
Rather than write an exhaustive list of the type of products that can be recycled, there’s a much easier way to check whether your electricals can be recycled. The WEEE wheelie bin logo should be present on the product, packaging and documentation of your electrical goods to indicate that it’s not suitable for disposal in general waste. If you can’t immediately see the logo, ask yourself the following questions:
- Does it use batteries?
- Does it have a plug?
- Does it need a charger?
Answering ‘yes’ to any of these questions means that your product shouldn’t be disposed of in normal waste but can be recycled. You can take your waste electricals to a recycling centre or contact your local council to have them taken away, though bear in mind some local authorities charge a pick-up fee. The Recycle Now website has a useful search tool to help you find recycling centres in your local area, as well as further information about recycling in general.
Some people get rid of electrical goods that are in perfect working order because they’ve upgraded to a new model and don’t know what to do with their old one. Why throw them in the bin when someone else could easily enjoy them? Charity shops are more than happy to take in good condition appliances for resale, or you can also earn a little bit of cash by taking them into stores that sell refurbished electronics. Electricals comprise a large percentage of the waste created in the UK but information and education on how we can manage this is key to reducing the amount going to landfill. An individual alone won’t be able to change things overnight, but as more of us become aware of the necessity and responsibility of recycling, attitudes will eventually shift.