Lancaster University research, commissioned by Material Focus and led by Pentland Centre team members, helps industry identify where action can be taken to improve UK reuse and recycling rates for electricals.

Last week, Material Focus launched new research that provides a complete and in-depth overview of the amount of electricals sold and electrical waste generated in the UK, across households and businesses. Electrical waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK and in the world, with discarded or hoarded household electricals estimated to cost the UK economy over £370 million per year of lost valuable raw materials such as gold, copper, aluminium and steel.

The research “Electrical Waste - challenges and opportunities”, conducted by Lancaster University researchers, Repic, Valpak, and led by sustainability experts Anthesis, provides the latest robust inventory of flow of electrical products and waste in the UK. The research also looked at the volumes of electrical waste that is being put to good use through reuse or recycling. The main purpose of the research was to help the industry identify where action can be taken to improve UK reuse and recycling rates for electricals, and to support overall recycling, and re-use target setting.

Key findings of the research have identified that:

• A total of 1.65 million tonnes of electricals were sold (put on the market) in the UK.
• 206,000 tonnes are new electricals not replacing old items.
• 1.45 million tonnes of electrical waste was available to be re-used or recycled.
• At least 500,000 tonnes of waste electricals were lost through being thrown away, hoarded, stolen, or illegally exported.

The research has also highlighted that, for a variety of reasons, not all new sales of electricals are replacing old items like for like. Around 206,000 tonnes of additional large and small electricals are being used per annum. For example, UK householders and businesses are increasingly owning more tech and new types of equipment are being launched such as smart speakers.

Complementary research, Hidden Treasures, recently launched by Material Focus, estimated that UK householders were hoarding 527 million small electrical items, the equivalent of 190,000 tonnes, accumulated over around 5 years. The research also found that 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emission could be saved, equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road if all our old small electricals that are being thrown away or hoarded were recycled.

Dr Alison Stowell, Lead Researcher, Lancaster University said: “At present, average UK recycling rates across the whole spectrum of electricals stand at around 40%. This indicates that vast quantities of used electricals do not enter the official waste reporting and recycling system, and various leakages are substantial. As part of this comprehensive new assessment, the Lancaster University team provided important insights into the scales of household hoarding, online second-hand markets, disposal in domestic bins and other pathways for the unreported used and discarded electricals in the UK. The large magnitude of these flows proves the importance of consumer awareness campaigns such as Recycle Your Electricals initiative launched recently by Material Focus.”

Scott Butler, Executive Director, Material Focus said: “The UK is throwing away, or hoarding, at least half a million tonnes of valuable materials that could be reused or recycled. More needs to be done to tackle this and ensure that we don’t waste these valuable materials that are being thrown away, whether it's incorrectly disposed of, hoarded, illegally exported or stolen. The focus of our recently launched ‘Recycle Your Electricals’ campaign is to encourage more UK householders to stop throwing away and instead recycle or reuse their small unwanted electricals. In addition we will continue to invest in research to help the industry and policy makers understand more about where and how these household and business electricals are being lost, and we hope that the research can inform future actions to prevent this loss.”

Mark Sayers, Senior Consultant, Anthesis said: “The research, “Electrical Waste - challenges and opportunities” provides the most comprehensive and robust view of the amount of electricals sold and waste generated in the UK. Anthesis and our partners Lancaster University, Repic and Valpak undertook a comprehensive and robust inventory of the multiple stages that electricals flow throughout the economy. Data was collected through primary research including surveys and sampling of household rubbish, stakeholder engagement, mathematical modelling and by reviewing the relevant literature. The research will be invaluable to policy makers and industry stakeholders alike to identify where electricals ultimately go and to improve recycling in this important waste stream.”

Material Focus is making recycling small old electricals easier than ever before by launching an information hub for the UK, and making it easier for an additional 4.1 million households to access recycling facilities. The campaign is encouraging more UK householders to gather up their old unwanted electricals and then put them in a bag ready to be recycled once lockdown has lifted and local recycling facilities have reopened. A new postcode finder has launched on www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk with details of over 2,000 recycling, repair and reuse points, with new collection and drop-off points being added to the site on an ongoing basis.