- Four out of ten Scots (40%) have cupboards, drawers or bags full of electrical waste
- Nearly a third (30%) admit they don’t know how to recycle e-waste
- Research comes as BT recycled nearly a million pieces of equipment, saving 11,430 tonnes of carbon dioxide, as calculated by the Carbon Trust
New research from BT has revealed that almost a third of Scots don’t know how to recycle electrical waste with 40% saying that they have cupboards, drawers or bags full of unwanted electrical equipment.
The news comes as BT reveals it has recycled nearly a million pieces of BT equipment since the start of 2020, preventing nearly 170 tonnes of electrical waste from going to landfill, equivalent to the weight of 13 double-decker buses¹.
The research found that nearly three quarters of Scots (74%) including 76% of Glaswegians and 71% of people living in Edinburgh admit to having thrown electronics into black bin liners committing the goods to landfill rather than taking them to be recycled.
The most common item Glaswegians don’t know how to recycle is games consoles (30%) with those living in Edinburgh agreeing with the majority of Scots saying that it is cables (29%). Hairdryers (27%) and remote controllers (27%) also top the list.
Interestingly, over half of Scots (52%) have engaged in ‘wishful recycling,’ throwing unwanted electronics into the recycling bin in the hope that they will somehow reach a recycling centre.
Jane Wood, BT Group Scotland Director, said: “We made some changes in 2019 that make it compulsory to return broadband routers to us after use, which has really boosted our recycling efforts.
“Thanks to these changes and the commitment of our customers, we’ve prevented the release of 11,430 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of 6,000 flights from London to Tokyo¹.”
Andie Stevens, Associate Director at Carbon Trust Advisory, said, “BT makes it easy for customers to return unwanted and unneeded equipment, preventing tonnes of electrical waste and plastic from going to landfill.
“The recycling and refurbishment programme is a great initiative, demonstrating the commitment to circularity and achieving long-term sustainability goals by reducing the carbon intensity of products.”
BT estimates hundreds of thousands of electronic equipment in customers’ homes could be refurbished and recycled.
It’s easy for customers to return their equipment to BT – more information is here.
The top 10 old electrical items Scots store unused at home:
· 46.6% Cables
· 39.2% Hair dryers
· 37.7% Remote controls
· 35.4% Wired headphones
· 33.2% Printers
· 31.1% Games consoles – PS/Xbox/Wii
· 32.7% Broadband hub
· 26.6% TV Set-top boxes
· 24.3% Smart speakers – Alexa’s/Google Homes/Bluetooth
· 17.2% Wi-Fi extenders
For general information on how to recycle electrical items; contact your local authority or for details of local Household Waste Recycling Centres where small electrical items can be recycled visit:
http://www.recycleforscotland.com
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No surprises here.
Basic problem is that nobody dares throw away an electonic device they did not actually purchase because they don’t now what it is. It arives, usually ‘free of charge’ with dire warnings about it being the Property of XYZ and not to be connected to anyone else’s eqpt..
The suppilers factor the cost of cheap throw-away stuf into their expensive service contracts then offer agents big discounts to get new customers who get new eqpt and nobody chucks anything away until the replacememt is seen working.
Electronic Eqpt contains toxic and expensive metal and electronic components that only experts can deal with
No surprises here. And the precision of the data given is irrelevant.