Website of the UK government

The wider issue

Running electrical equipment is one of the biggest uses of electricity in most homes, so it adds to climate change and your bills. By 2010, electrical items are likely to be using more energy than anything else in people’s homes, except heating. 

The average person in the UK throws away 3.3 tonnes of electrical waste in their lifetime . If this is not disposed of carefully or recycled, chemicals can leak into the environment and harm wildlife or contaminate water. Valuable metals like copper, lead and iron will also be wasted.

• Resource use and wastage

• Reusing and disposing of electrical equipment

Cut energy used by electrical equipment

You can save money and cut CO2 emissions by buying energy saving electrical equipment and taking care not to waste energy when you use it.

Buy energy efficient products

The following tips can help you choose energy saving electrical equipment:

• choose the smallest appliance you can, because smaller appliances usually use less electricity than bigger ones of the same type
• choose energy saving computer equipment, like laptops which use about one-sixth of the energy of a desktop computer while running
• ask your retailer about Energy Star rated computers, fax machines or scanners, which are energy efficient
• look for the TCO label, which shows that IT equipment is energy efficient and made with fewer harmful chemicals
• look for the Energy Saving Recommended label, or the European Ecolabel, to find the most energy efficient integrated digital televisions (IDTVs)

• Find an Energy Saving Recommended TV Opens new window

• Find Energy Star labelled products Opens new window

• TCO labelled products Opens new window

Save energy when using equipment

Energy is used by electrical items left on standby and by chargers left on at the plug but not connected to an appliance. You can save energy by:

• unplugging your chargers or switching them off at the socket when not in use
• turning off TVs and other equipment at the set or plug, not by using the remote control
• turning your monitor off when you leave your computer
• using energy saving settings on your computer

• Turn on energy saving settings (power management) on your computer Opens new window

Keep equipment longer, reuse and recycle

If you are thinking of throwing away an electrical item:

• consider keeping equipment like your mobile phone or computer for longer, which can save you money, save energy and cut waste
• pass on unwanted items for reuse - over half of electronic items thrown away are still working or could easily be fixed

If you do need to dispose of electrical items, make sure they are recycled safely and do not put them with household rubbish.

Follow the link below for practical information on making equipment last longer, passing on equipment for reuse and safe disposal.

• Reusing and disposing of electrical equipment

Use fewer batteries

Every year, 600 million batteries are thrown away. These contain valuable metals like nickel and sometimes harmful chemicals like cadmium. You can help save raw materials and energy by using fewer batteries and recycling them. This will also help stop harmful chemicals, like lead and mercury, getting into the environment. Try:

• plugging gadgets into the mains while using them
• using rechargeable batteries when you can, so fewer batteries are thrown away
• recycling used batteries where possible, by using the link below to find out if there is a recycling point close to you
• buying wind-up or solar gadgets like radios and torches, so you can do without batteries altogether

• Recycling batteries

• Find out where to recycle batteries Opens new window

Avoid printing where possible

Only print when you really need to, as this saves energy, paper and ink. Other things you can do include:

• printing double-sided
  
• recycling your waste paper and using recycled paper
  
• selecting ‘draft’ or ‘economy’ settings when you print, to save ink
  
• refilling or recycling empty printer cartridges

• More about refilling printer cartridges Opens new window

More useful links

• RecycleNow Opens new window

• Energy Saving Trust (EST) Opens new window

• The European Ecolabel Opens new window

• Safe computer use (employment section)

• Making a computer easier to use (home and community section)