Leading tech retailer and etailer Currys has unveiled a wall of waste in Manchester’s Spinningfields Square, for passers-by to help themselves to.
The wall of waste marks the return of Cash for Trash, which the retailer first ran in March when it invited customers to hand in their old, broken or unused tech at their nearest store in exchange for a voucher or cash worth £5 or more. Counting just small tech alone, the retailer collected 267 tonnes of unwanted tech electricals during Cash for Trash month in March, which is 87 per cent more than they collected the month previous.
This week, walls of broken tech will appear across the UK, with walls of waste also coming to Leeds and London, and passers-by can help themselves to a piece that they can then take to a participating Currys store in exchange for a voucher. Currys experts will also be on hand at the sites to help members of the public understand how to recycle their e-waste – something Currys has found customers would like to do more of but don’t know where to start – as well as answer any questions about the Cash for Trash scheme.
Cash for Trash reinforces Currys commitment to helping give existing tech a longer life. It currently recycles 65,000 tonnes of tech every single year, more than any other retailer, and has saved around 800,000 tonnes of tech from going to landfill since 2007. In 2021, 40 per cent of all e-waste collected by UK retailers was collected by Currys.
The electrical and tech giant estimates that the UK is currently sitting on a stockpile of 527 million unwanted electrical items including mobile phones, cameras and headphones. If correctly recycled this could cut as much CO2 as taking 1.3m cars off the road. By offering a monetary reward, it hopes to go some way towards achieving this.
Dean Kramer, director of services at Currys, said: “We want to ensure that we are supporting our customers when their tech reaches the end of its life or is no longer needed, making recycling both easy and rewarding. Along with Price Lock and 12 Month Pay Delay, we’ve relaunched Cash for Trash to help consumers’ wallets and the planet too. We’re happy to take any unwanted electricals and make sure that they are disposed of responsibly, saving and recycling key components where we can.”
