According to a new report, the sheer amount of old mobile phones and other electronic refuse scattered about households across the UK could pay off one fifth of the nation’s budget deficit. An astonishing one-third of the £28 billion worth of electrical equipment will be thrown out this year. But it will not be sent to recycle; most of that percentage will end up in landfill sites in the country and overseas.
Envirofone, one of the nation’s largest recycling mobile handset companies, sponsored the survey, which found that an average Scottish household has up to £110 worth in unwanted gadgets. This is comprised of handsets, MP3s, CD and DVD players, as well as laptops, cameras, and game consoles. Envirofone said that should these items be recycled, they could be worth thousands of pounds.
Envirofone found that a lot of the unused gadgets were due to unwanted Christmas gifts, or electronics that had been quickly superseded by more up-to-date technologies. Last year, the report indicated that consumers threw out similar items amounting to a million tonnes.
The Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Scotland scheme issued its own report this month that stated that only one-third or less of WEEE waste was properly recycled. Other parts of the UK are reportedly even worse in recycling WEEE waste than Scotland. Yorkshire has an estimated £350 of unused electrical equipment per household. John Butler, Envirofone’s brand manager, said that it was shocking how many electronics were being throw out, especially during a waning economy.
|
|
