Study: Electrical waste costing UK £370m in lost valuable raw materials each year

Michael Holder
clock • 2 min read

Around 500,000 tonnes of valuable electricals lost, binned, hoarded or stolen in the UK last year, research suggests

Roughly a third of the 1.45 million tonnes of electrical waste produced by UK households and businesses was either lost, thrown away, hoarded or stolen last year, costing the economy more than £370m of...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

Michael Holder
Author spotlight

Michael Holder

Environmental journalist and editor

View profile
More from Michael Holder

Study: Tackling aircraft contrails could delay climate impact of aviation by a decade

COP31: Global pledges to limit climate impact of AI sought at Antalya Summit

More on Waste

Europe's e‑waste is a valuable resource - let's not throw it away
Waste

Europe's e‑waste is a valuable resource - let's not throw it away

Nils Pauliks, Leiden University, The Conversation
clock 17 September 2026 • 4 min read
Pressure mounts on government to provide 'clear sense of direction' for circular economy
Waste

Pressure mounts on government to provide 'clear sense of direction' for circular economy

Waste industry professionals have called on the government to urgently provide a clearer, long-term strategy as they continue to wait for long-delayed Circular Economy Growth Plan

Michael Holder
Michael Holder
clock 14 September 2026 • 4 min read
Mondelez cuts around 2,200 tonnes of plastic a year from biscuit packaging
Waste

Mondelez cuts around 2,200 tonnes of plastic a year from biscuit packaging

Rigid plastic trays used to package more than 115 products, including Cadbury Crunchy Melts and Chocolate Chip Cookies, replaced with FSC-certified paper alternative

Stuart Stone
Stuart Stone
clock 08 September 2026 • 3 min read