There’s a strong chance you’ve got an old Nokia or Sony phone stashed away in a cupboard or drawer somewhere as a backup in case you lose your iPhone.
It’s probably sitting alongside an old HP or Dell laptop that you never quite got around to recycling.
You’re not alone. Up to 40 million unused electronic devices are estimated to be ‘stockpiled’ around the country, many of which will never be recycled.
A survey, conducted by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), asked more than 2,000 people about their old tech. And 45% of them said they had as many as five unused devices. The most common of which are old phones and laptops.
Most households (66%) said they planned to hang on to the old devices as ‘spares’. But the RSC says that all this is doing is creating a stockpile of old technology that contains valuable materials the world is fast running out of.
Things like indium, gallium and silver are all used in consumer electronics. But if trends continue as they are then natural supplies of these materials will be gone within a hundred years.
‘We are approaching the point of no return for some of these materials,’ the RSC’s chief executive Robert Parker said in a statement.
‘Over our lifetime, one person in the UK will produce around three tonnes of electronic waste. However, there are indications that number could increase as the number of smart, wireless or connected devices in the home increase.’
According to the survey, 52% of 16-24 year olds have 10 or more gadgets in their homes compared with 39% of 35-44 year olds and 30% of 55-75 year olds.
‘We need action now – from governments, manufacturers and retailers – to make reuse and recycling much easier, and we must enable a new generation of chemistry talent to help,’ Mr Parker said.
‘The UK has a tremendous opportunity to become a world leader and set an example for other nations to follow.
‘As individuals, reuse and recycling are the best options available to us, but even if recycled it is still extremely difficult to recover some of these elements from unused devices.’
The Royal Society of Chemistry says it plans to publish a paper laying out recommendations for improving electronic waste recycling later this year.
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