TechA Belgian family has an average of 95 electrical appliances at home, ten of which are no longer used. Recupel has calculated that. In total, the Belgians together own 482 million electrical appliances, of which 49 million are lying around at home without being used.
Of those 49 million devices, 39 million are still working. The other 10 million are defective. “There are much more useful things to do with the unused appliances than to leave them lying around the house,” says spokesperson Stijn Ombelets of Recupel, the organization responsible for the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
“If the devices are broken, you can have them repaired or take them to a recycling point. You can also give them away and give them a new life,” says Ombelets. The top 3 unused devices are flashlights/bicycle lights (2.5 million), followed by light fixtures (desk, reading and bedside lamps – 1.7 million), calculators/card readers and smartphones/mobile phones (both 1.5 million ).
“You never know”
Up to 65 percent of Belgians appear to keep these unused devices and adhere to the philosophy “I keep it, you never know”. Eleven percent of people throw away electrical appliances in the garbage when they don’t belong there, according to the latest three-yearly count. Seven percent do so even with working devices.
To encourage people to recycle, donate or have their unused devices repaired, the company organized a playful action on Martelarenplein in Leuven on Tuesday.
On the square, a dozen refrigerators, microwaves and washing machines, dressed and disguised with a human face, stood in a bus shelter “waiting for a better destination”. Recupel wants to show that people do not always choose the best destination for their electrical appliances.
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