Latest news with #fasttech
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Warning over millions of mini-fans bought during the heatwave
Mini-fans bought during UK heatwaves are among the growing number of products fuelling the 'fast tech' waste crisis, campaigners have warned. Research recently commissioned by Material Focus, which campaigns for people to recycle their electricals, found that UK consumers bought 7.1 million mini-fans in the last year. The campaign group also highlighted that Google Trend data shows demand for mini-fans increasing, with searches up 16% in May compared to the year before and overall yearly searches continuing to rise. Demand for fast tech items, which covers cheap electronic items with short lifespans that are thrown away or left unused, continues to increase among UK consumers, Material Focus said. These products include items like decorative LED lights, light-up toilet seats, rechargeable and chargeable batteries, electric toothbrushes, electric razors, earplugs and charging cables. Research from Opinium showed that annual spend on fast tech has grown from £2.8 billion to £11.6bn between 2023 and 2025, and that 84% of people polled bought fast tech in the last year. READ MORE: Massive North London warehouse fire with smoke seen all the way from M25 READ MORE: DWP alert for adults with eyesight problems who could be owed extra £441 a month The findings also suggest £7.9 million light-up toilet seats, mini karaoke machines and LED balloons have been sold during the last 12 months. But the equivalent of 55% of items bought each year are now binned or tucked away, forgotten in a drawer, the research indicates. And nearly 22 million items of fast tech, containing valuable metals like lithium, copper and gold, are estimated to remain unused after just one month from being purchased. Consumer expert Professor Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, from Anglia Ruskin University, warned that fast tech could be growing at a similar rate to fast fashion, with a 'similar negative impact' on the environment as it ends up in landfill. 'Like fast fashion, we can change things for the better though,' she said. 'That starts by making sure we don't see these items as disposable, being more conscious of what we buy in the first place, and at the very least, we recycle fast tech when we're finished with it.' Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, warned that fast tech items are not disposable and should not be binned. 'When the novelty's worn off, just make sure you visit our recycling locator, where you'll find how quick and easy it is to make sure tech doesn't end up in bins,' he said. Andrea Cheong, fashion sustainability advocate and creator of the Mindful Monday Method, who is working with Material Focus, said: 'Thanks to fast fashion, we've seen the quality of our clothes decline over the last few years. Similarly, the durability of our electricals has dropped too, thanks to fast tech. 'The unrealistic, low prices of fast tech encourages impulse purchases and makes them feel easy to dispose of. This all adds up.' Prof Jansson-Boyd urged people to consider the impact before buying a fast tech item, check if it can be bought second hand, avoid being seduced by discounts and offers, use repair services such as that offered by Curry's and recycle items you are no longer using. UK residents can find their nearest drop-off point thanks to Material Focus's Recycle Your Electricals locator, which maps more than 30,000 recycling points.
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Fast-tech' warning as demand for cheap gadgets heats-up
Demand for so-called "fast tech" - cheap electronic items often quickly binned or abandoned in drawers - is growing, a not-for-profit that works to reduce electronic waste has Focus singled out heatwave-fuelled demand for battery powered mini-fans as an example of the problem, suggesting over seven million were purchased last £8m was spent on light-up toilet seats, mini karaoke machines and LED balloons, the group's calculations also consumer spending on fast tech has quadrupled to £11.6bn since 2023, surveys carried out for Material Focus boom could be as rapid as the growth in fast fashion with a "similar negative impact", Professor Cathrine Jansson-Boyd wrote in the announcement of the findings. Although fast tech can cost less than a pound, valuable materials can still be locked up in the cut-price gadgets. A previous report by Material Focus looking at tech lurking in so-called "drawers of doom" suggested in total the junk could contain over 38,000 tonnes of mining of materials used by tech gadgets can be environmentally damaging, and yet, experts say, such elements will be crucial as nations seek to transition to low carbon Focus, whose board includes trade bodies representing manufacturers of domestic appliances, and lighting manufactures, argued that consumers needed to be more thoughtful, "We had fast food, then fast fashion, now fast tech", Scott Butler, the group's executive director urged consumers to "think before you buy your latest fast tech item, and if you do really need it".Unwanted tech should always be recycled, Mr Butler argued. However, surveys carried out for the group suggest that over half of fast tech ends up in the bin or unused. Repair and recycle Joe Iles of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which promotes the idea of a "circular economy" based on reuse and recycling said the charity believed the problem of fast tech could be fixed."It's easy to think of these patterns of rapid use, disposal as inevitable, but they're a recent symptom that has accelerated in the past 50 years or so", he told the was already a booming market for some durable, reused, and refurbished electronics, he policy tools such as Right to Repair and Extended Producer Responsibility could encourage better design, as well as new practices in collection, repair, and resale, he highlight how goods need to be manufactured in a way that helps consumers make sustainable Burley, plastics campaign lead at Greenpeace UK told the BBC that the combination of plastic and electrical components made fast tech "a toxic cocktail that is very hard to recycle".The fact that so much cheap tech is not built to be repaired or to last exacerbated the problem she plastic and electronic waste is thrown away it often ends up being dumped on poorer solution was "a circular economy where producers are responsible for the full life cycle of their products, and incentivised to make them easier to repair". Consumers could help by not buying fast tech – "manual fans or an open window work just as well" she noted.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
‘It's cheap but it's not disposable': why fast tech is a growing waste problem
It is cheap, often poorly made, and usually ends up in the bin or buried among the other knick-knacks, takeaway menus and birthday candles in the kitchen drawer. Known as 'fast-tech', these low-cost electronics are increasingly common – from mini-fans and electric toothbrushes, to portable chargers and LED toilet seats, often bought for just a few pounds online. But behind the bargain price is a growing problem: many of these items are difficult to repair, not recycled and quickly discarded. Electronic waste is one of the world's fastest-growing waste streams, and experts say fast tech is playing an increasingly significant role. In the UK, it is estimated that more than 1.14bn of these small electronic gadgets (including vapes) are bought a year and about half (589m) are disposed of in that same time, which is equivalent to 19 a second, according to Material Focus, the organisation behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. 'We've had fast food, we've had fast fashion, and we're now in the age of fast tech,' says Scott Butler, the executive director of Material Focus. 'We're not moralist against technology, but what we are concerned about is the volume of low-quality, cheap, flimsy products that are flooding the market, which end up binned or unused.' Fast tech is seen as disposable by more than a third of Britons, according to a survey, and this is, in part, due to the low price point, Butler says. '[It] might be cheap but it's not disposable. In fact, anything with a plug, battery or cable should never be binned. They're full of useful metals and can be used again,' he adds. Butler highlights 'fad' fast tech as a key issue – cheap items that are bought at certain times of year or for particular occasions, such as mini-fans as the UK warms up or light-up Christmas jumpers. About 7.1m mini-fans were bought in the UK last year and more than 3.5m have already been discarded or forgotten in drawers in that same period. 'We just had a heatwave. I'm sure the sale of mini-fans has boomed during that period. There's nothing wrong in trying to keep yourself cool, but we urge people, if you do need those things, try to buy the best version of it that you can so that it has a much better chance of lasting more than a summer,' he said. Laura Young, an environmental scientist and campaigner, says fast tech represents a new kind of environmental threat – not just because of the potentially toxic chemicals many contain, but because of the sheer volume and disposability. 'We have never had throwaway technology like this before,' she says. 'And I think people maybe just genuinely don't realise that there are electronic components inside of a lot of these tiny devices. 'With vapes, a lot of people who use them were like, 'there's a battery in there?', and they'd never thought. But actually, why would you have thought there's a battery in it? You can't see inside it. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'All of our electronics, your toaster, your kettle, your washing machine, your laptop, your iPad, your phone, all of them either sit plugged into the wall or are rechargeable. There was no disposable technology. So I think it's right that you would never assume that anything you're being sold is a disposable technology, because that's not normal,' she says. And while it is unlikely the amount of fast tech on the market will decline any time soon, Butler says it is crucial to change how we think about it. 'Ultimately these things are sold because people buy them. If people didn't buy them, then obviously they wouldn't be on the market. 'Just be a bit more mindful about what you buy, how you use it, and what you do with it when you no longer need it. Never bin it when it no longer works,' he says, urging people to instead collect their electricals and find their nearest recycling point using the locator online. There is also a push for better repair, reuse and borrowing options. Young points to community initiatives such as repair cafes and tool libraries that allow people to borrow items, often for a fraction of the cost of buying it new. 'I'm signed up to a tool library. I don't buy DIY equipment any more.' Tackling fast tech requires 'thinking differently', she says, and not thinking 'I have to own everything' or making unnecessary impulse purchases.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Mini-fans among products fuelling ‘fast tech' waste crisis, campaigners warn
Mini-fans bought during UK heatwaves are among the growing number of products fuelling the 'fast tech' waste crisis, campaigners have warned. Research recently commissioned by Material Focus, which campaigns for people to recycle their electricals, found that UK consumers bought 7.1 million mini-fans in the last year. The campaign group also highlighted that Google Trend data shows demand for mini-fans increasing, with searches up 16% in May compared to the year before and overall yearly searches continuing to rise. Demand for fast tech items, which covers cheap electronic items with short lifespans that are thrown away or left unused, continues to increase among UK consumers, Material Focus said. These products include items like decorative LED lights, light-up toilet seats, rechargeable and chargeable batteries, electric toothbrushes, electric razors, earplugs and charging cables. Research from Opinium showed that annual spend on fast tech has grown from £2.8 billion to £11.6bn between 2023 and 2025, and that 84% of people polled bought fast tech in the last year. The findings also suggest £7.9 million light-up toilet seats, mini karaoke machines and LED balloons have been sold during the last 12 months. But the equivalent of 55% of items bought each year are now binned or tucked away, forgotten in a drawer, the research indicates. And nearly 22 million items of fast tech, containing valuable metals like lithium, copper and gold, are estimated to remain unused after just one month from being purchased. Consumer expert Professor Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, from Anglia Ruskin University, warned that fast tech could be growing at a similar rate to fast fashion, with a 'similar negative impact' on the environment as it ends up in landfill. 'Like fast fashion, we can change things for the better though,' she said. 'That starts by making sure we don't see these items as disposable, being more conscious of what we buy in the first place, and at the very least, we recycle fast tech when we're finished with it.' Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, warned that fast tech items are not disposable and should not be binned. 'When the novelty's worn off, just make sure you visit our recycling locator, where you'll find how quick and easy it is to make sure tech doesn't end up in bins,' he said. Andrea Cheong, fashion sustainability advocate and creator of the Mindful Monday Method, who is working with Material Focus, said: 'Thanks to fast fashion, we've seen the quality of our clothes decline over the last few years. 'Similarly, the durability of our electricals has dropped too, thanks to fast tech. 'The unrealistic, low prices of fast tech encourages impulse purchases and makes them feel easy to dispose of. This all adds up.' Prof Jansson-Boyd urged people to consider the impact before buying a fast tech item, check if it can be bought second hand, avoid being seduced by discounts and offers, use repair services such as that offered by Curry's and recycle items you are no longer using. UK residents can find their nearest drop-off point thanks to Material Focus's Recycle Your Electricals locator, which maps more than 30,000 recycling points.
