Reduce Reducing Electrical Waste (E-waste)

Electronic devices form an increasingly important part of our lives, helping us to communicate and access information, providing entertainment, and helping us to do tasks that would be impossible, or at least difficult if we had to do them manually. Because of this, the number of electronic devices we own and the amount of electricity we use in our day-to-day lives is at an all-time high and is increasing at a tremendous rate. 

So is the amount of electrical waste (e-waste) we produce. It’s one of the fastest growing waste streams globally, and per capita, people in the UK are thought to produce more e-waste than any other nation. Sadly, e-waste, is a significant threat to the environment and to human health. 

Electrical items contain valuable non-renewable resources including metals such as steel, copper, nickel, chromium, aluminium gold, and mercury. If electrical items go to landfill or are fly-tipped instead of being reused or recycled, these valuable resources are lost forever. 

In the UK we discard 103,000 tonnes of electrical items each year rather than reusing or recycling them, and it’s a growing problem. 

If we’ve lost the resources in our old and unwanted electrical equipment, we have to start from scratch when it’s time to make new electrical items as new resources have to be freshly extracted from the earth. This is an expensive process that adds to the cost of buying new electrical items, and it leads to greenhouse gas emissions, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss, all of which could have been avoided if our old and unwanted electrical items had been reused, repaired or recycled instead. 

Recycling your unwanted electrical items is good, but reducing the amount of e-waste we produce in the first place, repairing and reusing electrical items are all better options. 

Recycling is good, but avoiding waste by buying less, repairing the items that we already own, and passing on unwanted items for reuse (and buying reused items instead of new ones) are all better options.

E-waste reduction

The best way to tackle the issue of e-waste is by reducing the number of electrical items that we buy in the first place. In the average UK home, there are three unused devices for every one regularly used device. Despite this, were spending billions buying more devices every year. 

• According to research by National Grid in 2023, the average person in the UK uses around 10 different electronic devices in their home on a daily basis. 

• Research by Material focus suggests that the average UK home contains an additional 31 electronic devices that we use very infrequently if ever. 

• According to a recent market report UK consumers spent around £4.28 billion buying new electrical devices in 2024 

Before buying any new electronic device consider if you already own something that could do the same job. You should also consider how often you are likely to use the item you are considering buying, and if you really need to own it. Could you borrow or rent a device instead? 

If you don’t need to own a device, but aren’t able to borrow one, research hire companies. Charnwood Eco-hub’s library of things offers affordable rental of a wide variety of electrical items. 

If you decide that you do need to own an electrical device it’s a good idea to prioritise the purchase of pre-loved or remanufactured items. As well as being cheaper (usually but not always), these items are often the ones that have been proven to be worth maintaining or repairing, which have good support from the manufacturer and or which have good aftermarket repair services / guides, and accessible spare parts. 

Whether buying new, or new to you, always aim to invest in good quality, durable and repairable items that you are likely to want to keep and use for a long time. These items are likely to serve you well and will retain some value if you decide to sell or rehome them at a later date. 

The internet is a great resource for researching your intended purchase before you spend any money; helping you to assess how robust your intended purchase is likely to be,  how long you can expect to receive support from the manufacturer (particularly for devices that rely upon updates to remain functional), how easy it is to repair the item if something does go wrong, and also the likely cost of common repairs / replacement parts. 

Repair of electricals

Caring for and maintaining the electrical devices that we already own is a great way to reduce e-waste at home. 

You’ll find a list of Repair organisations who can help you with repairs in Leicestershire on our waste prevention and reuse map, and more at: https://communityrepairnetwork.org.uk/find/  

The internet is also a great resource for people willing to try to maintain and fix things themselves. The iFixit.com repair guides are a good place to find support on repairing a wide variety of electrical items. 

Reuse of electricals

If you have an electronic device that you no longer want that is still useable, or a non-working device which could be fixed, someone might want it. Prior to recycling your device you could try to sell it or give it away.  

Doing so could be profitable for you, or a charity if you donate your items to them instead. The average UK home contains 31 unused or unwanted electrical items with an estimated worth of between £1,300 to £6,330 if these were re-sold. 

Worries over data theft can be a worry when it comes to selling unwanted electronic devices or donating them to charities. The Recycle Your Electricals website has advice on securely deleting your data, as well as tips on getting the best possible price for unwanted electrical items. 

Recycling electricals

Anything with a plug, a cable or a battery can be recycled. 

Most electrical items can be recycled by taking them to your nearest Recycling and Household Waste site in Leicestershire. Alternatively, use the Recycle Your Electricals website to find local recycling points. 

Some Leicestershire district and borough councils will collect electronic devices as part of their kerbside recycling service. Please check with your local district or borough council for advice on what, how and when they collect. Visit our kerbside recycling collections page to see a list of links to district and borough council websites. 

Leicestershire District and borough Councils offer bulky collection services for larger electrical items that might be difficult to transport to a Recycling and Household Waste site such as washing machines, fridges, freezers and other appliances. Please see our bulky collections page for more information

Take extra care when disposing of batteries or any item that can be recharged (which contains batteries). These should never be placed in your kerbside waste or recycling bins as they can ignite and pose a serious risk of harm to you and the people who collect and process your household waste.