Share (Portsmouth) launches first Portsmouth E-waste Amnesty Week in response to resident feedback

Perhaps an ancient mobile phone or two, maybe an outdated tablet, a kitchen gadget that never got the use you hoped it would after seeing it on that TV show, random cables which lost the item they attached to years ago, or even a games console that’s been rendered obsolete by newer releases.

Well, a pioneering new scheme is launching this coming week which is asking people to donate with purpose, and clear unwanted tech from their homes during Portsmouth's first E-Waste Amnesty Week, which runs from Monday to Sunday, January 14.

A recent survey by Repair Café Portsmouth, which is based in the Cascades Shopping Centre, 64 per cent of Portsmouth residents surveyed said they would like their unused electrical items to benefit others, rather than going straight to being recycled.

In response Share (Portsmouth), the charity behind the repair cafe, has created the week.

They have teamed up with six local charities and organisations across the city, where people can drop their unwanted small electrical items, enabling the charities to raise funds by selling working or fixable items and recycling end-of-life items.

The UK is the second largest producer of electrical/electronic waste (e-waste) per capita in the world – only behind Norway. It is estimated that 880m electrical items lie unused in UK homes, based on 2023 research by Material Focus, with the average UK home having four or five charging cables, two or three mobiles phones and two or three remote controls cluttering up cupboards.

Earlier this year, Share (Portsmouth) secured funding from Virgin Media 02 and Hubbub to deliver the Time After Time project, aiming to address some of Portsmouth’s e-waste issues.

As a result, they have created an online map so that residents can find local places to repair, sell, donate and recycle their unwanted small electrical items.

January’s E-waste Amnesty Week is also part of it, encouraging people to hunt out these items and do something about them.

Founder of Share (Portsmouth) Clare Seek says: “As someone interested in repair I would like things to last longer, and the worst case scenario is we recycle them, so we have done a survey of people in Portsmouth over the last six months, asking them, imagine you're home right now, what unused tech have you got sitting in cupboards, drawers, or wherever? And sure enough Portsmouth is no different to anywhere else, we've all got old phones sitting in drawers and spare cables and all that kind of stuff.

“Then we asked them, what would you like to do with that if you had a magic fairy to come and do it for you? And 50 per cent said they'd like to donate it, rather than just recycle it. Lots of people also said they just don't get around to it because nothing prompts us, so we came up with the idea of this e-waste amnesty week.

“We purposely placed it in the second week of January. January is a perfect time to have a clear out and help others. Many of us start a new year with aspirations to create new habits, set intentions, or simply have got to make space for new items that we’ve received over Christmas.

"We hope that everyone will take 10 minutes to check through drawers, under beds, in cupboards and lofts for their unused phones, cables, toasters and so on, and will then drop items to the charities that we’ve highlighted for the week, or any of the others that are listed on our website.

"It’s a win-win for everyone, with you decluttering, charities being able to raise more funds for the great work they do in our communities, and keeping our electrical items lasting longer, or elements being recycled.

"We're going to give it a go and see how it goes. Part of our funding is to test this idea and then give it as an idea to other people around the country, if it works well here. The charities are already saying it would be great if they can get more people donating to us.”

The government is consulting on potential changes to kerbside recycling to include small electrical items in a bid to improve recycling rates – Portsmouth is ahead of this trend by already offering this to city residents who live in houses.

“In Portsmouth people can put electrical items on top of their bin with their collections, which is great,” adds Clare. “But, if we can make these objects last longer that's even better.

“You get things doing things like people having their kitchen remodelled, so they change the colour of their toaster – there's nothing wrong with the toaster, but how do we get people to give it local charity shops rather than throw it away?”

The six charities and organisations involved are spread across the city:

Revitalise is in PO1

Naomi House is in PO2

Southern Electric Recycling is in PO3

The Rainbow Centre is in PO4

The Salvation Army is in PO5 and PO6.

Their contact details and opening hours can be found at tinyurl.com/PortsmouthEwasteAmnesty.

A part of the scheme they have created an interactive map, which shows where you can take a wide variety of goods you no longer want – not just electrical goods.

“The map goes beyond just the six charities we’re working with,” says Clare. “There's lots of places where you can recycle vapes, or musical instruments, or donate or sell things. The idea was to focus on this giving opportunity just after Christmas, with people wanting to give something back to the community.”

Find the map at: portsmouth-ewaste.gogocarto.fr.