RECYCLE YOUR UNUSED CABLES THIS INTERNATIONAL E-WASTE DAY

• Recycle Your Electricals is launching ‘The Great Cable Challenge’ – calling on households across the UK to take part and collectively recycle one million cables, helping to reduce e-waste.
• New research commissioned by Recycle Your Electricals found that nearly 40% of UK homes keep their small electricals in a ‘drawer of doom’ and over a quarter of respondents who store unused electricals (28%) said they felt embarrassed, annoyed or frustrated by the small electricals they store in their homes.[1]
• The research also reveals that over a third of UK homes (35%) who hold on to electricals do so because they don’t know how to dispose of them properly.[2]
• Recycle for Greater Manchester is partnering with Recycle Your Electricals to show how easy it is to recycle your unused electricals this International E-Waste Day and de-clutter your drawers!

Recycle for Greater Manchester is working with Recycle Your Electricals to encourage local residents to participate in The Great Cable Challenge – a nationwide campaign aimed at tackling the millions of cables sitting idle across UK households. The initiative is part of this year’s International E-Waste Day which is taking place on the 14th October.

With over one third of respondents (37%) checking for unused electricals less than once a year, the challenge aims to give a second life to the valuable materials contained in cables, such as copper. Copper can be recycled into new items such as wind turbines and new tech such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smart watches.

In Greater Manchester you can take all unwanted technology to all of our Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Things like cables, chargers, small electricals, phones, laptops, batteries and even vapes have designated recycling facilities.

The Great Cable Challenge comes as new research commissioned by Recycle Your Electricals reveals that two-in-five UK homes (39%) keep hold of their small electricals in a ‘drawer of doom’ – our secret, often hidden stashes of unused electricals and broken tech found in many households.[3]  In fact, over a quarter of these respondents (28%) said they even felt embarrassed, annoyed or frustrated by the small electricals they store in their homes.[4]

The good news is that it’s now easier than ever to recycle unused cables and electricals using Recycle Your Electricals’ Recycling Locator. Just enter your postcode to find your nearest recycling point which has over 26,000 locations across the UK.

With millions of cables cluttering up UK homes, Recycle Your Electricals have published a handy Cable Guide. With 35 of the most used cables, the guide provides easy to use visuals to match cables to their original electricals. If the electricals or the cables are no longer working or they aren’t needed anymore, simply bag up your cables and recycle them! You can view the Cable Guide HERE.

Recycling electricals has never been easier as there are over 26,000 recycling points around the UK. Just check Recycle Your Electricals postcode locator to find your nearest recycling point – anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled.

International E-Waste Day (IEWD) 2024 aims to encourage householders to participate in this year’s campaign by encouraging everyone to recycle their cables and their household electricals.