To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video How often have you thrown away old headphones without a second thought? Or chucked a frayed charging cable in the trash? Thousands of Brits bin unwanted or outdated technology, completely unaware that a lot of it can be recycled. The phrase ‘Fast Tech’ has now been coined to identify repeat landfill offenders, including headphones, cables, mini fans and single-use vapes.
In each average home, there are four or five charging cables, two or three mobiles phones and two or three remote controls cluttering up cupboards. The valuable materials contained in any electrical item can easily have a second life through donation, or being recycled into new items with a surprising range of uses, such as wind turbines, life-saving medical devices or even children’s playground equipment and electric vehicles.