Emily Carr, policy adviser at Green Alliance, said: “It’s a scandal that millions of people in the UK lack the devices they need to get online, while reusable electronics are being shredded as waste.
“The good news is that these two problems can be solved with a single solution: better redistribution of used phones, tablets and laptops. Organisations we spoke to are changing people’s lives for the better by doing this, but they need support from policy to get them enough useable devices.”
The environmental charity has called on individuals and businesses to donate unwanted electronics to redistribution schemes.
For example, the Good Things Foundation’s National Device Bank has redistributed electronics from 40 organisations to over 10,000 people. However, the foundation has said that demand is currently five times greater than supply.
Sam, who was supplied with a refurbished laptop by the electronics redistribution charity Screen Share UK, said: “I had nothing. No computer, no WiFi. I didn’t know what to do. I thought I wouldn’t be able to get to university just because I didn’t have access to a working computer.
“I wouldn’t be here without my Screen Share laptop. I have big plans now, and they wouldn’t have started without it. It’s amazing how one laptop can change not only my life but other people’s lives too.”
E-waste in the UK
In 2022, the UK generated the second highest amount of e-waste on average per person in the world, at 24kg each year compared to a global average of 7.8kg.
In a report examining the “scandal”, Green Alliance has made two recommendations:
Tackling the issue of schemes receiving unusable and irreparable devices by introducing a real right to repair. The charity is calling on the UK to match EU ecodesign standards for repairability and durability, ban planned obsolescence and make spare parts and repair information accessible to everyone, not just professional repairers.
Creating stronger incentives for donation through reforms to the extended producer responsibility regime, including setting targets for reuse that incentivise the separate collection and reuse of products in good condition, and phasing in a ban on sending whole items of electronic equipment to landfill or incineration.
Green Alliance’s research was funded through Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub’s Time After Time E-waste Fund.
Interested in finding out more about electronic waste? Join us at the Letsrecycle.com WEEE Conference on 12 March 2025 in London. Find out more and buy tickets here.
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