International E-Waste Day 14th October 2026: Have You Checked Your Drawer of Doom?

Got an old phone tucked away in a drawer? A bundle of mystery charging cables you no longer recognise? Or a hairdryer, tablet or pair of headphones that haven’t been used for years?

You’re not alone.

On average, every UK household has around 30 unused electrical items gathering dust at home. Collectively, that’s around 880 million unwanted electricals stored in homes across the UK. Many are forgotten in drawers, cupboards, lofts and garages, taking up space, hiding batteries and gathering dust when they could be helping someone else or being put back into use. [materialfocus.org.uk].

International E-Waste Day is an opportunity to join millions of people across the UK in a collective clear-out of unwanted, unused and broken electrical items.

Whether they’re repaired, sold, donated or recycled, clearing out unwanted electricals can help free up space, reduce the number of batteries stored around your home, put a little money back in your pocket and ensure useful products and materials remain in circulation.

So grab a bag or a box, collect your unloved electrical items, cables and batteries together and then decide how best to deal with what you’ve collected. You could:

Repair them

A loose connection, worn battery, damaged switch or broken component doesn’t necessarily mean an item has reached the end of its life. In many cases, a simple repair can keep an electrical item working for years to come.

Repairing electricals can save money, reduce the need to buy replacements and help you get more value from the products you already own.

Community repair groups can help diagnose fault, make repairs and bring items back into use, often for free or for a small donation. Find your nearest group and view upcoming repair events on our repair pages:

Sell them

Selling unwanted electricals is a great way to turn clutter into cash, so if an item still works and you no longer need it, why not sell it?

Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, games consoles, smart watches and even small household appliances can retain value long after you’ve stopped using them.

Before selling or passing on a smart device, make sure you remove any personal information and restore it to its factory settings.

Recycle Your Electricals offer excellent guidance on preparing devices for reuse, places to sell, and securely deleting personal data before they leave your possession:

Donate them

Not everything has to be sold.

If an electrical item still works but is no longer needed, donating it can give it a second life and help somebody else.

Many charities (but not all, so please check before making a donation), community organisations and reuse projects accept working electrical items, helping to make essential technology and household appliances accessible to more people while preventing perfectly usable products from becoming waste.

Whether it’s a mobile phone, laptop, radio, kettle or another electrical item, donating it could make a real difference.

The Recycle Your Electricals reuse and donation guidance provides advice on passing unwanted electricals on safely and responsibly and provides a list of charities and organisations that welcome electrical donations.

Recycle them

If an item is broken beyond repair or no longer suitable for reuse, recycling is the next best option.

Electrical items contain valuable materials, including metals, plastics and critical raw materials that can be recovered and used to make new products.

Many electrical items also contain lithium-ion batteries. When stored, damaged or disposed of incorrectly, these batteries can present a fire risk. Clearing unwanted electricals from your home and ensuring they are recycled correctly helps reduce this risk.

Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled, but it’s important to do so safely. Never put electrical items or batteries in your household recycling collection.

Instead, take them to a dedicated electrical recycling point.

You can find your nearest recycling location using the Recycle Your Electricals recycling locator. Many retailers, Recycling and Household Waste Sites and other collection points accept unwanted electrical items and batteries for recycling.

Just shove them in the bin

Please never do this, you could cause a damaging and dangerous fire.

Anything with a plug, battery or a cable can be recycled, but only if it’s taken to a dedicated electrical or battery collection point.

Putting electrical items into your home recycling or general waste bin means that the item(s) will not be recycled, the precious materials they contains will be lost, and it could cause a dangerous and damaging fire if hidden batteries are damaged or crushed.

It’s not worth the risk. Please always recycle electrical items and batterie at a dedicated collection point.

Find out more on our How and where to recycle your electricals page.