How can you help tackle electronic waste
This competition requires you to find and use old electrical items to build your Formula E race car. But once the competition is over, please recycle your car and continue to recycle e-waste.
Here are different ways in which you can stop valuable electrical products from going in the bin, and help to build a circular economy. Before you pass on electrical items, remember to remove any personal data from smart devices and computers.
If you are based in the UK, use www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk to find out more information, including your nearest donation or recycling point.
REPAIR your electrical products and extend their life – look for a Repair Café that may be near you and can help
DONATE electrical products you don’t want any more so other people can use them; many charities or donation sites collect products as pass them on to others
SELL electrical products through a peer to peer market place
RECYCLE your electrical products – remember to take out batteries and bulbs as they will need to be recycled separately. Look for a specialist electrical products site or return to the place you bought it from.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Envision Racing Formula E Racing Team is leading the Race Against Climate Change by helping to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
Alongside testing new battery technology for cars, we are on a mission to tackle e-waste and ensure the precious metals, minerals and materials in old laptops, mobile phones and other electrical devices are extracted and reused.
Described by the World Health Organisation as the ‘next growing threat to the environment’, annual electronic waste production is on track to reach a staggering 75 million tonnes globally by 2030, with the UK generating the 2nd largest amount of e-waste as a country in 2022.
However, if the millions upon millions of Lithium batteries that are found in different products are recycled, it will dramatically reduce both the need for rare earth mineral mining and large energy needed to create the batteries from scratch.
We want to increase awareness of e-waste and help build a ‘circular economy’ where electrical products are reused or recycled, not thrown away.