It weeeally shouldn’t go in the black bin

Annually, the average UK household spends £800 on electrical items whilst individuals throw away 20-25kgs of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) items, which is contributing to the 50 billion tonnes of e-waste which is now the world’s fastest growing waste problem as only 40% in UK is correctly disposed of.

Anything that is being discarded that has a plug, battery or circuit board counts as WEEE, so fairy lights, lamps, mobile phones, fluorescent light tubes, printer cartridges as well as the more obvious white goods, computers and TV’s. And according to Mark Hilton, Head of Sustainable Business at Eunomia Research and Consulting, “this list is ever growing as more things become electronic such as smart clothing and spectacles with virtual reality”.

A circuit board full of precious earth metals Photo credit: Bristol Repair Cafe

It is the materials that make electronic equipment so incredible that mean they can’t be chucked in the bin. There are hazardous materials like plastic, mercury, lead, arsenic and antimony all of which can leach out in landfill and through incineration. And then there is the value in the precious metals such as gold, silver and palladium and rare earth metals that make touch screens work and phones vibrate that are extracted from the earth in countries where human rights and environmental standards are often lacking.

In the UK, WEEE recycling involves hazardous parts being removed, items being taken apart and shredded with plastics, glass and metals being separated out on conveyor belts, to be sold on for recycling. One Iron contains enough steel to make 13 steel cans. With printer cartridges, 60% returned through charity and manufacturer schemes get remanufactured and 30% get recycled for car bumpers and road asphalt (although there is no money in the recycling process). However, these mechanical processes don’t capture those small quantities of valuable rare earth metals.

Print cartridges being shredded for recyclingThe value of the materials in WEEE, and the complexity and cost of safe recycling is driving the demand for export. As well as illegal and informal recycling practices, like burning plastics to get to the gold or copper, in countries with lax environmental laws. Countries in South East Asia are becoming dumping grounds as China and Thailand ban these shipments (although the illegal trade continues). In 2012 Research undertaken by the Countering WEEE Illegal Trade (CWIT) project found that in Europe, 65% of WEEE was either exported, recycled under non-compliant conditions in Europe, scavenged for valuable parts or simply thrown in waste bins.

In Bristol, WEEE can be taken to Currys and PC World or the household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) free of charge, or collected for a charge. Between April 2017 and March 2018 1,330 tonnes of WEEE was processed at the Bristol HWRCs, but not all was broken. The Bristol Reuse Network monitored the Day’s Road HWRC in 2016 and were amazed at the amount of working electrical items being chucked. Ben Moss was shocked that “someone brought a huge flat screen TV because they had bought a bigger one for the bigger wall in their new extension”. Bristol Waste, who run the HRWC, are committed to reuse so where possible are salvaging items for resale at their second reuse sale on Saturday 1st December, at Albert Road, where the focus will be on small electronic devices such as games consoles, radios and TVs.

One of the Emmaus team PAT testing a second hand washing machine.

Whilst Bristol Waste can save some items, they would advocate donating unwanted goods that work to charity shops. Emmaus and Sofa Project can collect large electrical goods and donating to these organisations, does more than avoiding waste. Xanne Carey Social Enterprise Manager at Emmaus pointed out that ‘the money from collections and sales goes into food, accommodation and one-to-one support for the homeless people we support”. Plus their collections, shop, workshop and warehouse also employ people coming out of homelessness.

If an item is broken, it may not be the end, ifixit.com gives repair advice for many items, and there are many repair services. There are also local monthly repair cafes happening around the city, where repairers give their time and skills for free. Kate Jerrard, a member of the Bristol repair cafes says that 80% of what comes in to the Fishponds repair cafe is electrical items. “We get a lot of TV’s that are easy to fix as often it is the capacitor that has gone, although earbuds are really hard to fix” Kate explained.

Unfortunately, Mark Hilton pointed out that some companies do make spare parts disproportionately expensive so people buy a new item. Through EU policy research work he has been doing with Eunomia, Mark highlights that there is a clear need for a stronger emphasis on eco-design and in particular “mandating minimum standards and/or other strong incentives for EEE durability, repairability and upgradability within product policy” which would both reduce the consumption of primary resources and prevent WEEE waste.

So in the lead up to Christmas, individuals and businesses in Bristol can reduce their own WEEE footprint by following these tips (With thanks to Eunomia, Bristol Waste, ByteBack, Recycle 4 Charity and Recycle Now):

•  Buy second hand or quality items that will last
• Repair where possible
•  Donate to charity shops or online schemes e.g. printer cartridges
•  Never put items with circuit boards, plugs or batteries in the black bin
•  If you book a waste collection check they have a hazardous waste carrier’s license and for computer collections are ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 compliant. Also ask for an audit trail of where they send things.

You can get more detailed advice on what to do with broken and unwanted electrical items in this article: https://b247-test.webringly.com/lifestyle/environment/what-to-do-with-unwanted-or-broken-electrical-items/