The potential for copper mined from UK households

New research reveals that the UK’s 1.3 billion unused or binned electricals could close the gap in copper supply.

The new study from Recycle Your Electricals reveals the UK is a copper mine in the making. 

The research shows that UK households contain 38,449t of copper hidden inside unwanted and thrown away electricals – and according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysis, this is enough to fulfil the UK’s annual demand for copper contained in technology. 

These electricals and cables contain a staggering £266mln worth of copper, also enough to provide 30% of the copper needed to meet the nation's demand for wind turbines and solar panels by 2030. 

Cables represent one of the UK’s biggest e-waste challenges – and one of the biggest copper opportunities as UK households are throwing away or holding onto on average 23 cables.

Research by the Critical Minerals Association has identified that cables contain at least 20% of copper – which means that across all UK households, 3,252t of copper in cables could be extracted.

A step-change is needed, says Recycle Your Electricals. 'If consumers understood the value of the precious materials inside their unwanted electricals, they wouldn’t be as likely to hold onto items instead of recycling them. 44% of survey respondents said they didn’t know copper is the most commonly used metal in electrical cables.'

In celebration of International E-Waste Day this week, Recycle Your Electricals is launching ‘The Great Cable Challenge’ – a nationwide campaign aimed at tackling the millions of cables sitting idle across UK households.

It is calling on households, local authorities, retailers, schools and community projects across the UK to take part in the challenge and collectively recycle one million cables, helping to reduce e-waste.