Recupel’s recent study shows that the average Belgian household has 106 electrical appliances in 2024. These include household appliances and care appliances, lighting devices, audio and video equipment, tools, toys, etc. In total, Belgians today own 549 million household appliances.
Of the 106 appliances in the average household, 12 are no longer in use. Added together, this represents a total of 55 million unused electrical appliances across the country. Some of them are still working, while others are broken. If an appliance is still working, it can be taken to a thrift store. Broken appliances can be taken to a Recupel collection point in a recycling parc, a store or a supermarket.
2 in 3 Belgians say they have already had an electrical appliance that still worked, but was no longer in use. The main reason for this (57% of responses) was that Belgians thought they would use it in the near future, but in the end this never happened. Working devices that are no longer in use thus accumulate in households.
With that volume you fill 5 times the Boerentoren in Antwerp and 8 times the Bastion Tower in Brussels
To mark European Week for Waste Reduction (16/11 – 24/11), Recupel wanted to draw attention to the importance of reusing and recycling electrical appliances by projecting this mountain of unused appliances piled up on a building in Brussels and in Antwerp, with the following message: bring your appliances to a Recupel point, and we’ll give them a second life!
It’s important that electronic devices are collected and recycled properly to protect our planet. Unfortunately, 13.7% of Belgians surveyed in a previous study stated they had already disposed of their electronic device in household waste. This practice is very harmful to the environment and prevents the recycling of valuable raw materials.
Electrical appliances contain valuable raw materials such as precious metals, plastics, iron and glass. Recupel’s recycling partners are able to give a second life to around 90% of these materials. By recycling your appliance today, you’re helping to produce the raw materials of tomorrow.
Top 10 least used electrical appliances:
- Power strip: 2.5 million
- Mood lighting (e.g. Christmas lights): 2.4 million
- Flashlight/bicycle light: 2.2 million
- Digital photo frame: 1.9 million
- Electronic toys: 1.7 million
- Light fixture (floor lamp, desk lamp,…): 1.7 million
- Smartphones/mobile phones : 1.6 million
- Extension cable: 1.4 million
- Headphones/earphones: 1.3 million
- Calculator/card reader (e-banking): 1.2 million
