Recycle your old electrical equipment

"HypnoCat" - Recycle Your Electricals

We're puurrrroud to support Material Focus's brand new ‘Recycle Your Electricals' campaign.

The nationwide campaign has enlisted the help of HypnoCat who will use his powers of paw-suasion to get everyone recycling their old electricals.

Did you know a massive 75% of all materials in your old electrical items can be recycled and turned into useful things like life-saving equipment, children's playground equipment, and even new electricals?!

Small, old electricals are one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the UK and the world with 50 million tonnes of electrical waste thrown away annually across the globe and, that is set to triple by 2050. The total number of electrical cables hoarded in UK homes (~140 million) could circle the earth more than 5 times!

How to get involved

Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled. Once you have decided that you want to recycle an old electrical, follow the ABC rule:

Ask yourself whether your old electrical item contains batteries or bulbs? They need to be removed before recycling. With computers or smart devices remove the memory and SIM cards and delete your data.

Bag – Make sure the item will fit into a standard size carrier bag to ensure it will fit into the cage under the truck. The item can be left loose by your bin if you don't have a bag.

Check where you can recycle your larger electrical items

Share your pictures, videos and stories of the electricals you're recycling with the hashtags #RecycleYourElectricals #AskHypnocat or tag the campaign on social media:

Facebook: @RecycleYourElectricals

Twitter: @RecycleElectric

Instagram: @RecycleYourElectricals_

Find out more about the impact of recycling your electricals on the Materials Focus website.

More about Material Focus and the Recycle Your Electricals campaign

Material Focus (formerly the WEEE Fund), is a not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to stop the nation throwing away or hoarding all their old small electricals. Material Focus has launched the new UK-wide Recycle Your Electricals campaign.

The campaign will reveal the value hidden in electricals and will make it easier for us all to recycle and reuse the small electricals we no longer need by providing more recycling points as well as providing practical information on how households can recycle.

The campaign is funded by producers of electrical appliances. The UK government sets annual targets for the recycling of all waste electricals, including small electricals. If producers of electrical appliances don't meet this target, then they contribute towards a fund (WEEE Fund).

During 2017 and 2018 £10.6 million was collected for the fund, which pays for a range of activities, including communications, behaviour change activities, increased recycling projects and research. Ultimately the aim is to support actions that will help the UK increase the levels of reuse and recycling of waste electricals.