How a Simple Clear-Out Changed the Way Our Family Thinks About Electrical Waste

I’ve always thought of my family as pretty good recyclers. We sort our paper, plastics and glass without a second thought. But when it came to electricals, I’ll be honest - I never really knew what to do with them. We’re not a particularly tech-heavy household, so I assumed we didn’t have much lying around anyway. It turns out I was very wrong.

After seeing the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, I finally decided to tackle the drawers and cupboards I’d been meaning to sort for years. I expected to find maybe a stray cable or two. Instead, I uncovered a mini treasure trove of forgotten tech: a few old phones, piles of USB sticks, external storage devices we didn’t need anymore, SD cards, mysterious chargers… even a broken Kindle I’d completely forgotten about. It was honestly shocking to see how much it all added up to.

And that’s not unusual. The average UK household has 30 unused or broken electrical items gathering dust in drawers, cupboards and sheds. When you look at it all together, it’s a huge amount of valuable material sitting idle - material that could be reused, repaired, or recycled into something new.

What struck me most was realising how easy it is to shove these things into a drawer to “deal with later,” especially with a busy family life. Later never seems to come. And by the time it does, some of those items could have lost their resale value. As a family who always tries to buy our tech second-hand to save money and make more sustainable choices, I realised I’d been hoarding resources without even noticing. I had no idea just how valuable these materials are.

Here’s what I learned along the way, and why recycling electricals is a small family action with a genuinely big impact.

1. Electricals are full of precious, reusable materials

Those old gadgets I dug out weren’t just clutter - they were full of gold, copper, lithium and aluminium. These materials can be recovered and turned into new products, from solar panels to children’s playgrounds.

Across the UK, discarded or hoarded electricals cost the economy £488 million every year in lost raw materials. Recycling helps keep those materials in circulation and reduces the environmental damage caused by mining new ones.

2. Recycling cuts carbon emissions

Recycling electricals uses far less energy than extracting new raw materials.For example, using recycled copper takes 85% less energy than mining it.

If all our unwanted electricals were recycled, we’d save carbon emissions equivalent to removing 3.8 million cars from UK roads. That’s an enormous climate win hiding in Britain's cupboards.

3. It helps tackle the UK’s fastest-growing waste stream

E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the UK and worldwide. But the good news is that 75% of the materials in electricals can be recycled.

Every phone, toaster, vape or cable that gets recycled instead of binned helps reduce waste and protect the environment. Even the tiny things - USB sticks, SD cards, old remotes - make a difference.

4. It prevents fires caused by batteries in household waste

Many electricals contain lithium-ion batteries - the kind found in vapes, electric toothbrushes, headphones and more. If they’re thrown in with general rubbish, they can be crushed in bins or lorries and cause fires, putting waste workers and facilities at risk.

Recycling electricals separately is safer for everyone.

5. It’s easier than I thought

I’d put off sorting our electrical clutter for ages because I thought it would be complicated. It really wasn’t. It boils down to three steps:

• A – Ask yourself:Do we actually need to keep this? Can any batteries be removed?

• B – Bag it up:I found a box and started collecting all our unwanted electricals in one place.

• C – Check your nearest drop-off point:The Recycle Your Electricals locator helped me find one of over 30,000 recycling, repair, and donation points across the UK.

Many retailers like Currys, B&Q and John Lewis offer take-back schemes too, and lots of local authorities now provide kerbside or bring-bank collections.

6. Your old devices won’t be exported illegally

One thing I wondered was where everything actually ends up. It turns out it’s illegal under UK and EU law for electrical waste to be exported to places like Ghana. Approved recycling points send items to regulated UK reusers and recyclers. Using official drop-off points means your old electricals are handled responsibly.

7. You can protect your data before recycling

I was also worried about old phones and USB sticks containing personal data. Thankfully, the Data Deletion Guide, created with the National Cyber Security Centre and We Fight Fraud, walks you through wiping devices safely before donating or recycling.

Small action, big impact

Sorting through our electrical clutter helped us:

• Declutter our home

• Protect the environment

• Recover valuable materials

• Cut carbon emissions

• Prevent dangerous battery fires

• Support a circular, more sustainable economy

  
  

I couldn’t believe that a simple afternoon of organising could do so much good.

So if you’ve got a drawer full of tangled cables or a gadget you haven’t used in years, learn from my experience - don’t leave it gathering dust. Bag it up, check the locator, and recycle it.

By recycling our electricals, we’re not just freeing up space in our homes; we’re helping build a safer, more sustainable future for our families and our communities.

For more information head to the Recycle Your Electricals website.