International E-Waste Day is a key moment to raise awareness of electrical waste as the fastest-growing source of waste in the world, and in the UK. Join us on 14th October 2024 to tackle the issue.
Almost all of us have unwanted, broken cables clogging up our drawers, or have considered binning that flimsy cable when it broke. That’s thousands of kilograms of precious copper going to waste, that could be recycled into anything from lifesaving hospital equipment to electric vehicles.
Cables contain copper which is one of the most precious materials on our planet and essential to our everyday lives. We use copper in our phones, transport, clean energy, lifesaving equipment and the green technology revolution.
That’s why this International E-Waste Day, Recycle Your Electricals is calling on the UK to join the Great Cable Challenge and help recycle 1 million cables!
5 million cables are binned every year - that’s enough to circle the earth 5 times! If 1 million of us all recycled one cable, we could save at least 5,000kg of copper from going to waste.
Cllr Emma Morley, Gravesham Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Operational Services, said: “We know that moment when you open a draw or cupboard at home and those coils of cables that you have put away ‘just in case’ unfurl and come tumbling out.
“Instead of just pushing them all back in and forgetting about them for another few months, why not bundle them up and take them to one of our electrical recycling points, and play your part in the Great Cable Challenge.”
Join the millions taking one small action to make a big difference. Gather up your old cables - and any other old electricals you find in your drawer of doom! - and recycle them this International E-Waste Day.
Let us know how many cables you recycled for the Great Cable Challenge
In Gravesham, since launching our small electrical bring-banks and collection points in November 2023 with Material Focus, residents have donated more than 20,730 small electrical items and cables for recycling, weighing in at 18,880 kilograms of which we estimate that 519 kilograms of cables have been recycled by Gravesham residents.
Find your nearest recycling point at: www.gravesham.gov.uk/electrical-recycling or visit: www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk.