Today, WasteAid published its first annual review – a report that focuses on our developments and most important successes since April 2020. It shares key figures, programme and partnership spotlights, and our newly developed Theory of Change. The Annual Review also takes the opportunity to look ahead to our vision of inclusive waste management and practical examples of our solutions and approach.

WasteAid’s Chief Executive, Ceris Turner-Bailes, said: “WasteAid’s achievements over the last 18 months are testament to the dedication of our team and the clear and pressing need for better waste management globally. Despite the pandemic we have managed to develop sustainable and scalable models, support innovation in lower- and middle-income countries, engage with policy makers, and build highly impactful corporate and institutional partnerships.

“I am delighted to be launching WasteAid’s first ever Annual Review and am grateful to all the partners, supporters, donors and team members who have helped us reach where we are today.”

Click on the image above to download the WasteAid Annual Review 2020/21

Across the world, populations are growing and economies are evolving. But when we buy more, we also generate more waste, more pollution and more climate change emissions. Most countries are struggling to keep up. In fact, 1 in 3 people globally do not have access to a waste management service – leading to them burning it in their backyards or dumping it across their neighbourhoods.

The climate science? Open burning of waste in lower- to middle-income countries contributes up to 10% of global climate change emissions. That’s double the negative impact than found in the aviation industry. Yet, it has a simple solution that has been tested and trusted for decades.

Despite being a relatively quick win for the planet and people, however, waste management is still missed from the agenda at important climate conferences – including COP26.

Below, we break down exactly why waste is a climate issue and what needs to change for waste management to be taken seriously as a climate threat. We also look at why COP26 is so important and what WasteAid will be advocating for during the upcoming climate conference and beyond.

Why is waste a climate issue?

To understand how and why waste management is a climate issue, it can be helpful to start with the lens of what has already happened over the last couple of decades in the UK.

Today, the most potent greenhouse gas emissions from waste management in the UK are largely down to methane from landfill sites, waste incineration and transport.

Methane is a harmful gas that is emitted from landfills when biodegradable waste (anything that can be returned to the soil like food or paper) is buried and compressed. It is 24 times more potent in global warming terms than carbon dioxide (CO2). This shocking statistic is the reason the European Landfill Directive came into action in 2000, which mandated all member states to reduce the volume of their biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill.

As a result of the legislative act, local councils introduced kerbside recycling across the country while also increasing waste incineration for energy recovery – which is now under the spotlight as the UK’s most carbon-intensive way of generating energy.

But simple waste collection services are still not available in many other parts of the world.

For lower- to middle-income countries such as Nigeria, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from waste are the result of open burning in backyards or dumpsites. The open burning of waste is a widespread practice in places with incomplete waste management systems. In fact, the activity contributes up to 10% of global carbon emissions – making poorly managed waste everyone’s issue.

As an example, let’s compare the two countries in terms of carbon emissions:

The United Kingdom generates around 500 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. That’s roughly the same for Nigeria too. In the United Kingdom, however, waste is responsible for 4% of these emissions while this figure stands at 14% for Nigeria.

With no access to a waste management service, 1 in 3 people worldwide have no choice but to dump or burn their waste. Open waste burning is a significant emitter of black carbon, CO2 and carbon monoxide (CO) as well as other harmful gases like dioxins and furans.

These greenhouse gases (black carbon, CO2 and CO) lead to climate change.

Black carbon, dioxins and furans also have significant health impacts on people and animals (cancer is one example). In fact, nine million people die from diseases linked to waste and pollution every year. Pollution from open burning is particularly harmful to children, negatively impacting their health and physical and mental development.

Alongside reducing emissions, waste management plays an important role in building climate resilience.

Countries with inadequate solid waste management are often also the most vulnerable to climate shocks. Forest fires, flash floods and the spread of disease are on the rise in these regions. So, how exactly can waste management help to reduce these human-related environmental challenges?

To start with, forest fires can be reduced by eliminating the open burning of waste. Flash floods can be mitigated by the clearing of drains and waterways. Diseases can be avoided by keeping towns and cities clean, reducing mosquito breeding grounds and informal dumpsites that attract vermin, as well as reducing pollutants in air, groundwater, and the food chain.

Investment in sustainable and inclusive waste management systems means an investment in resilience to climate shocks and disasters for the most marginalised communities of today.

But for the international waste management community, securing financial investment isn’t all that easy. It brings another problematic question to light – how do you measure the impact from avoided open burning or poorly managed waste in general? While there are patterns, every pile of waste – and every community affected – is different to the next.

With no internationally agreed standard for estimating the climate emissions from open burning, waste management has been left off the agenda at COP26 once again. That’s despite knowing the activity contributes significant climate and health impacts, and has a relatively simple and affordable solution that is already available.

A global standard must be agreed for waste to be properly included in each country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and for waste management to attract sufficient climate finance.

How WasteAid is making an impact through its projects

Most of WasteAid’s activities contribute towards the reduction of climate emissions from poorly managed waste. Whether that’s increasing recycling in Cameroon, reducing food waste in The Gambia or supporting circular economy entrepreneurs in India, South Africa and Vietnam with seed funding and business mentoring.

As open burning is a commonplace approach to waste disposal in lower- to middle-income countries, any activity that diverts waste from disposal can avoid climate change emissions by reducing:

• Demand for raw materials (as extracting raw materials is carbon-intensive)
• Disposal route of open burning (which emits significant greenhouse gases)
• Biodegradable waste disposed of at dumpsites (where it has the potential to generate methane and/or be burned)

Programmes managed by WasteAid also build climate resilience by:

• Reducing waste that is blocking drains (which otherwise contribute towards flash floods and associated water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases)
• Regenerating natural systems (by returning waste back to its natural state and improving soil nutrient value and water retention)

Why is COP26 significant?

The upcoming climate conference, COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. This year, it will be hosted in Glasgow, Scotland, under the presidency of the UK government 1st-12th November. But what makes this particular event so important?

COP26 is the first time that national governments across the world are expected to commit to “enhanced ambition” since COP21. That means reviewing and updating each of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Commitments to reporting on NDCs were outlined during COP21 in 2015 as a result of the Paris Agreement. This agreement stipulates all parties involved must review their Nationally Determined Contributions in line with global emissions reduction targets and take on new commitments every five years.

COP26 was due to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What WasteAid and partners are advocating for at COP26 and beyond

COP26 presents a big opportunity for inadequate waste management to be taken seriously. Not only are the climate change emissions from open burning of waste backed by science, but the solutions are already available and easily replicable.

Together with our partners, here’s what WasteAid is advocating for at COP26 and beyond:

Short-term goals

First on the agenda? Poor waste management in lower- to middle-income countries to be recognised by global decision makers as a significant greenhouse gas emitter and barrier to climate resilience. Sustainable and inclusive waste management is a relatively quick win for the planet and people. But if the right people don’t know about it – or are unwilling to do something about it – then little is likely to change.

Without access to better infrastructure, the most marginalised communities in the world will struggle to gain control of their waste, impacting their health and livelihoods. Another of WasteAid’s goals is for lower- to middle-income governments to recognise that waste management is a cost-effective and achievable way to reduce climate change emissions. Waste tends to fall down the priority list in these countries as other needs, such as clean water and healthcare are rightly prioritised. Waste management, however, can help meet many of the Sustainable Development Goals at once while reducing climate emissions and building climate resilience.

One big challenge for the global waste community is the lack of a standardised method for measuring the emissions of poorly managed waste, making it difficult to attract climate finance for the issue. A key goal for WasteAid and partners is therefore getting global decision makers to agree to an internationally agreed standard for estimating the climate impact of poorly managed waste in lower- to middle-income countries.

Sustainable waste management doesn’t stop at measurement though. To prevent climate change and work towards sustainability, the old ‘business-as-usual’ trajectory must change. That’s why WasteAid is campaigning for a circular economy approach and its positive contribution to preventing climate change to be recognised by policy makers and supported through funding decisions.

Mid-term goals

Waste management needs a seat at the table, especially when it comes to important climate conferences like COP26. A further shared goal is for lower- to middle-income countries to include solid waste management in their NDCs. By incorporating the issue into their national climate targets, countries will become accountable for making improvements to waste management infrastructure while raising the quality of life for their citizens.

But these countries can’t do this alone. Despite generating the least emissions per person and having the least agency to change current practices, it is the most marginalised communities who are the most affected. That is why WasteAid is advocating for climate finance to be directed towards waste management in lower- to middle-income countries. Waste management can reduce emissions significantly and help protect the poorest from climate shocks, like forest fires or flash floods.

Long-term goals

For WasteAid and partners, long-term is that a funding and policy focus leads to improved sustainable waste management in lower- to middle-income countries. This in turn will lead to improved sustainable waste management, reducing climate emissions and building climate resilience. By achieving these goals, climate change emissions can be significantly reduced and the lives of millions of people within the most marginalised areas of the world greatly improved.

Together for our planet

Waste is an inevitable by-product of human life. Whether in large or small amounts, almost every human activity has some sort of waste-related side effect. But it is the way in which we manage waste that is the most important factor when it comes to climate change.

Are you attending COP26? Come along to the WasteAid & Bright Blue panel discussion event ‘The Burning Issue? Waste, Climate, Health and Development’ on 11th November at 10:00 (UTC) to get to grips with the challenge on an even deeper level. Watch this space for more information coming soon.

Think waste needs sorting? Follow WasteAid on Twitter and LinkedIn as we release new content in the run up to COP26, educating and inspiring the world to take action.

Written by Nat Libby

Zoë Lenkiewicz, Senior Technical Advisor and Head of Communications for WasteAid, shares the organisation’s perspective on waste, climate and finance.

In the “race to net zero”, the global waste management movement has a lot of work on its hands. While the focus on UK emissions is on iterative improvements, the elephant in the room is still the billions of people who lack a waste collection service and burn their waste in their backyards or at dumpsites.

The UK government says, “We cannot afford to wait to act against the threat of climate change. We must work together to protect our planet and people and ensure a greener, more resilient future for us all”. Surely this means an urgent move to deliver waste management services to the 1 in 3 people who have no alternative than dumping or burning.

Estimated to be causing twice the emissions of aviation, the commonplace practice of open burning is a public health travesty as much as a climate one. Mixed waste contains hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and other hazardous compounds that are released into the atmosphere on a regular basis by households across the globe. Children play and walk to school in clouds of fumes and soot known to cause cancers, and reproductive and developmental diseases.

Waste management systems have been proven to be excellent value for money, in terms of protecting public health (waste collection was introduced in the UK under the first Public Health Act in 1875), reducing flood risk from blocked drains, and improved economic opportunity. Thus far however, waste management has failed to attract anything like the amount of climate finance that is invested in decarbonising aviation, and which arguably benefits only a tiny percentage of the global population.

Attracting climate finance to waste management

Under the Paris Agreement of 2015, countries are required to carry out every five years, a process known colloquially as the ‘ratchet mechanism’. Countries must submit Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to a ‘business as usual’ scenario. Under the framework of the Paris Agreement, each country is expected to submit enhanced NDCs every five years, to ratchet up ambition to mitigate climate change.

Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the conference of 2020 was set to be the first iteration of the ratchet mechanism.

For countries to properly include waste management in their NDCs, they require a reasonable and internationally agreed approach to estimating current emissions, as well as avoided emissions as a result of improved systems. Determining emissions from backyard burning and dumpsite fires is no simple task, but without it, progress will stall.

WasteAid has been collaborating with partners including the International Solid Waste Association, the Royal Academy of Engineers’ Safer End of Life programme, and the UN’s Climate Change and Clean Air Coalition in an attempt to put waste on the agenda at COP.

Policymakers in lower- and middle-income countries are all too aware of the health impacts of burning waste, and the increased risk of flooding and cholera caused by blocked drains. With COP27 taking place in Africa, it is hoped that waste management will finally feature on the agenda.

How WasteAid is making an impact through its projects

Most of WasteAid’s activities contribute towards the reduction of climate emissions from poorly managed waste. Whether that’s increasing recycling in Cameroon, reducing food waste in The Gambia or supporting circular economy entrepreneurs in India, South Africa and Vietnam with seed funding and business mentoring.

As open burning remains a default approach to waste disposal in lower- and middle-income countries, any activity that diverts waste from disposal can avoid climate change emissions by reducing the amount of “waste” that requires disposal, providing safe alternative routes for resource management, and displacing demand raw material extraction.

Programmes managed by WasteAid also build climate resilience by removing waste from drains where it contributes to flash floods and associated water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases, and regenerating natural systems by returning organic matter to agricultural land.

What WasteAid and partners are advocating for at COP26 and beyond

Short-term goals:

• Poor waste management is recognised by global decision makers as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and barrier to climate resilience.
• Governments in lower- and middle-income countries recognise that waste management is a cost-effective and achievable way to reduce climate emissions.
• Global decision makers to agree to an internationally agreed standard for estimating the climate impact of poorly managed waste in lower- and middle-income countries.
• A circular economy approach and its positive contribution to preventing climate change is recognised by policy makers and supported through funding decisions.

Mid-term goals:

• Lower- and middle-income countries include sustainable waste management in their Nationally Determined Contributions.
• Climate finance is directed towards waste management in lower- and middle-income countries.

Long-term goals:

• Funding and policy focus leads to improved sustainable waste management in lower- and middle-income countries.
• Improved sustainable waste management reduces climate emissions and builds climate resilience.

The WasteAid team is returning to RWM, the UK’s major resources and waste management exhibition.

RWM is the leading recycling, resource, and waste management event in the UK – showcasing the latest innovations shaping the sustainability sector to the industry’s most influential names and organisations.

Each year, recycling and waste management professionals travel from around the world to collaborate with forward-thinking businesses, public sector bodies, government departments and not-for-profit organisations on building a more resource-efficient future.

Both days are packed with unmissable seminars from resource management thought leaders and figureheads; offering expert advice and invaluable guidance and support. The show will also be home to hundreds of cutting-edge exhibitors, who will display the latest environmentally sound and profitable solutions.

RWM, in partnership with CIWM, is the event that truly connects the resource and waste management industry.

Register Free

Meet our CEO, Ceris Turner-Bailes

Ceris Turner-Bailes became WasteAid’s CEO in April 2020, and will be speaking at RWM to share her perspective on the shifting landscape of global waste management.

As global demand for secondary materials grows, the face of the global waste management market is changing faster than ever. Ceris will discuss the trends observed through the lens of the UK’s only non-profit dedicated to putting people at the centre of the circular economy.

Key themes include corporate and extended producer responsibility programmes, the emergence of offsetting schemes, and the growing use of technology for waste tracking. WasteAid has a unique perspective on the market’s priorities, goals and future risks.

This session will be tailored for businesses and institutions that are looking to make a positive impact on the global waste management landscape and inclusive, sustainable development.

What a difference… two years make

Since the last RWM in 2019, WasteAid has been working with partners in lower and middle-income countries to deliver inclusive waste collection, recycling and circular economy programmes.

In The Gambia, WasteAid has recently launched a new EU-funded project in partnership with Kanifing Municipal Council and Women’s Initiative The Gambia to recover food waste from markets and use it to make compost and biochar. These products will help improve the soil at the women’s gardens where most crops are grown, by increasing water and nutrient retention. The women gardeners will also be learning how to transform woody waste into charcoal briquettes, a low-smoke cooking fuel that reduces pressure on the fragile Casamance Forest. These activities will reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal at Bakoteh dumpsite, while building climate resilience in the country’s agricultural sector.

In Cameroon, WasteAid’s UK Aid Match project is well-underway, which will see 164 young unemployed people from the coastal city of Douala trained in the collection and recycling of plastic waste. Through a partnership with local enterprise REDPLAST and agreements with local Town Halls, the project will build one of the city’s first inclusive circular economy programmes, paving the way for sustainable waste management and contributing to many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Thanks to funding from Bunzl plc in 2020, WasteAid delivered a 12 month project in Bali, Indonesia, which has seen a village waste collection and recycling programme divert 90% of waste from landfill, and a training curriculum developed for young women to work in some of Bali’s top hotels as Zero Waste Champions. Further funding from Bunzl plc in 2021 has enabled a new project to be delivered in Cameroon, working with another Town Hall in Douala to recruit 30 vulnerable and marginalised people and train them to become plastic collection and recycling champions in local markets.

WasteAid’s growing team of waste management and international development specialists has also been running an international Circular Economy Network in South Africa, India and Vietnam, funded by Huhtamaki. Through a series of online and in-person events, the project is bringing together entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, policymakers and funders to raise the profile of circular economy activities, culminating in the Zero Waste Cities Challenge. This innovation competition has attracted 100 applicants from across the three focus countries, and the shortlisted applicants are now undergoing business development training to refine their business plans and become pitch-ready. Winners will be awarded €10,000 and free business support to help make their inclusive circular economy enterprise a success.

WasteAid’s growth has benefitted from additional support from Proud Partner Biffa, as well as musicMagpie, Zumo and others businesses, individuals, trusts and foundations. With more plans in the pipeline, now is the time to partner with WasteAid if you’re looking to make a positive impact on global waste management – whether it’s to prevent marine plastic pollution, reduce climate emissions or help vulnerable communities to play a key role in the circular economy.

We look forward to meeting you at RWM, 21-22 September!

Register Free

Written by Zoë Lenkiewicz

In April 2021, WasteAid launched a new EU-funded project to improve climate resilience in The Gambia, which will be overseen by our newly appointed Project Coordinator, Ingrid Henrys.

Working in partnership with Kanifing Municipal Council and Women’s Initiative The Gambia, WasteAid will be creating a new food waste collection service at local markets, and training women gardeners to transform it into compost, biochar and charcoal briquettes.

Welcome to the WasteAid team Ingrid! Please could you tell us, how did your path lead you to working with WasteAid in the Gambia?

Thank you! In coming to The Gambia, I made a strong decision to not do any work that wouldn’t be aligned with my consciousness and the values that are really meaningful for me. When I arrived, I was concerned about how solid waste is managed in Banjul, and the facts that some gardeners I have met outside of the capital don’t make or use compost. They argue that their soil is good enough, as everything grows there. But some of them rely on chemical products for fertilising and for pest management.

Furthermore, I really wanted to work with women. I came across this opening with WasteAid, and I thought that it was exactly the kind of project in which I would want to work and the kind of organisation I would like to be part of.

WasteAid’s EU-funded project has a strong element of working with women gardeners. Can you describe the benefits you think this project will bring to them?

I think that, with this project, the women gardeners will truly feel and see the value of their work. They are the main fresh food producers in the city and providers to the local markets. They rely on chemical fertilisers that can be expensive and still their yields are not improving.

Gardening is about closing a loop, we take nutrients from the soil when we harvest, so we must return good quality nutrients to it if we want it to keep offering good quality products. The women will learn methods that will allow them to improve the quality of their soils without having to buy chemical products.

With time, their products will be of better quality. Also by learning those techniques, they will be able to create new sources of income if they want, by selling compost, briquettes, or biochar.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is taking place later this year. How is climate change impacting on women gardeners in The Gambia and how will this project make a difference?

One of the main impacts of climate change that I could observe in The Gambia, is the modification of the rainy season. The rains come later than before, delaying and shortening the season. Also, I believe that the rains are pouring stronger, causing floods and damaging some crops. As the dry seasons get longer, the women gardeners have more difficulty in guaranteeing their produce as they don’t have big water storage facilities. With this project they will be able to improve the water retention capacity of the soil, especially with the use of biochar; they will also improve the nutrient content of the soil with compost.

Also, sometimes they apply peanut shells directly on the ground. Those shells attract termites and they can also compete with the crops for nitrogen. By converting them into biochar, they can be of a better use. The application of biochar will improve the general quality of the soil for years, enhancing the yield and quality of the crops.

Charcoal briquettes made from woody waste are an effective substitute for forest timber. What are the main barriers to uptake and how could these be overcome?

People can be reticent to the use of a « new » product and can tend to stick to their old habits until they see the benefits of the new product. Also, we need to make sure that the briquettes are sold at an equal or lower price than the charcoal made from forest wood.

It will also be necessary to train people on how to use the briquettes, and to train resellers, so they can make a good advertisements for the product and encourage their customers to buy it.

We will need to do demonstrations of the use of the briquettes and to have public figures advertising the use of them and adopting them for their own use. With this, the general public will be more likely to accept the product. And all this will need to go hand to hand with sensitisation on the impact of deforestation for charcoal production and why briquettes are a good alternative.

Your background includes conservation and permaculture. What do you see as the main links between these and waste management?

Biodiversity and environmental conservation, and permaculture, all aim at allowing us, human beings, to live in harmony with nature. We want to work with nature and not against it. If we want to really be conscious of our acts, and to make decisions bearing in mind the seven generations to come after us, like indigenous tribes of North America do, we must consider carefully how we manage our waste. And by managing waste, we also think about waste production.

The more waste produced and poorly managed, greater the negative impacts on our environment and the biodiversity surrounding us, that we are a part of. In permaculture, we consider that a pollution is a resource waiting to be used, and when designing we want the elements used to fulfil several functions. We also apply ourselves to mimic nature. In a well-balanced ecosystem such as a forest, there is no waste per se, everything is reused or transformed.

Proper waste management can allow us to do the same.

Written by Zoë Lenkiewicz

This 12 month project will take place within Kanifing Municipality, the most populous region of The Gambia. It is funded by the EU GCCA+ programme.

WasteAid partners with recommerce expert musicMagpie ahead of attention-grabbing event at G7 to highlight the growing environmental threat of e-waste.

Image: Adam Gasson/PA Wire

• WasteAid has partnered with recommerce expert musicMagpie as part of its G7 campaign to tackle the global e-waste challenge, with a donation for each piece of tech sold to the site throughout June.
• musicMagpie has created ‘Mount Recyclemore’ with artist Joe Rush to raise awareness about the environmental threat of e-waste during the G7 summit.
• WasteAid is to develop e-waste guidance for communities and policymakers to recycle e-waste safely, help create employment opportunities and keep materials in the loop.
• The UK is one of the worst e-waste offenders producing 1.6 million tonnes a year, yet four in five Brits don’t know what e-waste is.

WasteAid, the organisation that promotes and delivers waste management, recycling and circular economy innovations globally, has partnered with musicMagpie to highlight the negative effects of unmanaged e-waste. WasteAid was delighted to enter this partnership and to be a key part of musicMagpie’s e-waste campaign which also focuses on the G7 summit.

If we don’t get e-waste recycling sorted, disc drives, circuit boards, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries could all be affected by the lack of availability of rare metals. Calls have been made to make e-waste recycling compulsory, to preserve the resources needed for low-carbon technology and meet climate targets.

As part of this G7 campaign a giant Mount Rushmore-style sculpture of the G7 leaders’ heads, made entirely of discarded electronics has appeared on a beach near Carbis Bay in Cornwall to highlight the growing danger to the environment of e-waste. Named Mount Recyclemore, the sculpture depicts world leaders including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, American President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as they gather for the G7 Summit to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis and build a greener future.

The Mount Recyclemore sculpture was created by musicMagpie, artist and founder of the Mutoid Waste Company, Joe Rush and sculptor Alex Wreckage. This installation with musicMagpie aims to encourage consumers to act more sustainably with electronics and support a circular economy.

WasteAid was delighted to join the G7 ‘Mount Recyclemore’ campaign and to further develop tools and projects to deal with e-waste, something the organisation recognises is a growing problem in the areas where they work. Throughout June, musicMagpie will donate £1 to WasteAid for each piece of consumer tech customers trade in with them. In addition, sellers will have the option to donate the value offered by the recommerce platform to the charity.  Donations will be used to fund WasteAid’s sustainable e-waste management education programmes in lower-income countries.

“A green economy relies on the availability of resources to make low-carbon technology,” said Ceris Turner-Bailes, WasteAid CEO. “While low income countries don’t produce anywhere near as much e-waste as we do in the UK, safe recycling facilities are few and far between. Dumped e-waste harms the environment, as well as being a waste of vital and valuable resources. Thanks to musicMagpie, WasteAid will be able to develop e-waste guidance for communities and policymakers to recycle e-waste safely, help create employment opportunities and keep materials in the loop.”

E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world, with the UN estimating the current 53 million tonnes of e-waste generated globally each year to more than double by 2050. musicMagpie’s own research, however, has revealed that four in five Brits don’t know what e-waste is, and some 45% aren’t aware of its climate impacts.

Unless urgent action is taken the issue of e-waste could worsen, as research from musicMagpie revealed that Brits are already sitting on £16.5 Billion worth of technology they no longer use, holding on average 11 unused devices per household*.

Almost half of Brits (47%) currently do not recycle, resell, or donate their old tech to charity, with most opting to hold onto it instead where it ends up at the back of drawers collecting dust. Perhaps most concerning is that almost one in ten openly admit to throwing old tech in the bin at home**.

Steve Oliver, founder and CEO, at musicMagpie, said:

“E-waste is a growing problem worldwide and its impact on the environment is significant. If sent to landfills, e-waste can leak harmful chemicals into the soil and water or if incinerated, fumes release chemicals into the air, contributing to global warming. Not only this, but everything from our phones to our laptops rely heavily on precious materials to operate, which are not only limited resources, but also directly impact climate change when being extracted from the earth.

“We need to better educate and empower people to make changes today. People can support a more sustainable, circular economy, by doing something as simple as trading in or recycling their tech, which will extend the life of those devices and their parts. Thanks to our customers, we are already able to give nearly half a million consumer technology products a second life each year.”

For more information and how to donate head to musicmagpie.co.uk/mountrecyclemore

About WasteAid: WasteAid is a leading international development organisation on a mission to tackle the global waste crisis. 2 billion people do not have their waste collected and 3 billion lack a decent disposal site, leading to the spread of disease and polluting the air, land, rivers and oceans. WasteAid shares waste management knowledge and skills with governments and communities in low-income countries; trains people to become self-employed recycling entrepreneurs; and influences decision-makers and the donor community to increase investment in waste management.

About musicMagpie: musicMagpie is a UK-based tech business at the forefront of the global recommerce revolution and is the smart, sustainable and trusted way to buy, rent and sell tech. It’s ‘Smart for you…Smart for the planet’.

The sculpture: 12 tonnes of e-waste was used to build Mount Recyclemore. The construction of Mount Recyclemore took roughly six weeks to build. The sculpture will be here at Sandy Acres beach until Sunday (13th June). People are more than welcome to visit and photograph the sculpture, however we advise those attending to ensure they socially distance and avoid creating large groups.

The research: The research was commissioned by musicMagpie, through Opinium in a nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults in May 2021.

*The research was commissioned by musicMagpie, through One Poll in a nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults in May 2020

** 9% of UK adults tend to throw their old tech into their general waste or recycling bins at home. (52,673,000 x 0.09 = 4,746,039)

Written by Zoë Lenkiewicz