Longford households urged to stem the tide of invisible e-waste

Households in Longford are being urged to clear out their homes of e-waste and to pay attention to items which are usually overlooked. 

A forgotten haul of 25million toys, vapes, cables, remote controls and USB sticks is lying in landfill sites, homes and sheds across Ireland, global data shows. The huge collection of broken and unused items is contributing to a mountain of ‘invisible’ e-waste, according to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Its study shows consumers in Ireland generated 11 million kilos of small electronic waste in 2022 – the equivalent of 25million items containing precious and valuable metals which will be lost forever unless they enter Ireland’s recycling system.  Globally, these smaller e-waste items weigh 9 billion kilos and are estimated to contain almost $10 billion in recoverable, essential raw materials. The figures were released as part of International E-Waste Day on Saturday, (Oct14) which urges consumers to begin a collective clearout of their homes and sheds. A total of 8.9kg of e-waste was recycled per person in Longford last year – falling short of the national average of 10.03kg per person.

Elizabeth O’Reilly, Head of Environmental Compliance & Membership at Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland, stated that “People in Longford have contributed greatly to e-waste recycling every year, with 412 tonnes of electrical waste collected in the county in 2022, and we want to encourage that trend.”

People can find out where their local free e-waste recycling centres are on the website https://www.weeeireland.ie/