Responsible disposal and WEEE

When a device is no longer useful to you, it can still be useful to someone else. Responsible disposal means getting rid of old equipment in a way that keeps it out of landfill, so the device, its parts or its materials can be used again.

Donate, sell or recycle

• Donating — a device that still works can go to someone who needs it, such as handing a working tablet to a local youth club or a younger cousin. The device keeps being used, so its useful life is extended and less waste is created.
• Selling — a second-hand shop or an online buyer may pay for a phone that still switches on, which extends its life in the same way and gives you some money back.
• Recycling — equipment that no longer works can be taken to a recycling point where it is taken apart. Recycling is not just about destroying devices: working parts can be reused and the materials inside, such as metals and glass, can be recovered.

WEEE regulations

WEEE stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. These regulations are law, not a voluntary scheme: sellers and manufacturers have a legal duty to take back and recycle the electrical goods they supply. That means you can hand an old device back to the shop or the manufacturer and they must take it back for recycling. For example, a shop that sells electric kettles has to accept an old kettle back for recycling when a customer buys a new one.

Why this matters

Recovering materials through recycling means fewer new raw materials have to be mined or made from scratch. That saves the energy needed to produce them and reduces the pollution that production causes. Donating and selling do their bit too, because every extra year a device is used is a year without a new one being manufactured and without waste being created.