72% of Luxembourg residents keep unused electronics at home

A recent study showed that 72% of Luxembourg residents keep at least one unused electronic or electrical appliance at home. The most common are smartphones, laptops and tablets, kitchen appliances, televisions and audio devices. Most of these items are still in good working order but are just lying idle, yet they contain valuable metals such as gold, silver and copper. Recycling them reduces the burden on the environment and reduces e-waste.

Experts recommend reducing purchases of new devices and utilising existing resources. Instead of buying rarely used appliances, you can share or rent them. You should also prioritise repair over throwing away - Luxembourg has repair cafés and repair services, such as Repair&Share from SuperDrecksKëscht. Some municipalities even subsidise repairs by giving "repair bonuses".

Luxembourg residents can drop off old appliances without paying in several ways:

• In all resource centres - any electronic waste is accepted here. Working devices can be donated to the ReUse project and recycled in social workshops (Nei Aarbecht, Digital Inclusion ASBL).
• At the SuperDrecksKëscht fir Bierger mobile collections - small household appliances (hairdryers, coffee makers, etc.) are accepted here.
• Large electronics shops - they are obliged to accept old electrical appliances, batteries and accumulators, but only 35% of residents are aware of this possibility.