BRITS are losing out on £6 billion by throwing their old electrical gadgets away, according to new research by www.weeebuy.co.uk. They also found that only 20% of all electrical waste is recycled.
Every year people in Britain throw away more than a million tonnes of electrical waste, much of it ending in landfill and proving hazardous to the environment.
Market research conducted by Weeebuy, the UK’s first recycling website to offer cash for all types of electrical waste, found that the average value of a recycled gadget is £30, whilst the average person has three unwanted electrical items. The site expects the three most common electrical items lying around the home are phones, laptops and cameras. Chris Rogerson, co-founder, of weeebuy.co.uk, said: “Families are losing out on billions by not cashing in on their e-waste. We’re rewarding UK consumers for being green. Old electronics have a financial value and it’s up to us to help people extract that. Not only does recycling electrical gadgets, line your pockets, it also helps the environment by saving as much as 200,000 tonnes of waste from landfill. “This is the first site of its kind that offers to reward the general public for all electrical items with cash for complying with the European WEEE Directive. The site has instant valuations and free collection and we’re aiming to hand over more than £10m in our first year.” The site has teamed up with the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, making a voluntary donation towards planting trees in the UK for every electrical product recycled on the site. Yasmine Davies at the Woodland Trust, said: “By recycling with weeebuy.co.uk you will be directly contributing to our “More Trees, More Good” campaign which aims to plant 20 million native trees in the UK every year for the next 50 years. The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe with four per cent woodland cover, but we need twice as much as this. Businesses like weeebuy.co.uk make it easy for everyone to do their part in improving our environment. Every time any electrical item is recycled, you’ll be making a real difference.”
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