Giant Toaster launched to raise awareness of Recycling Electricals in Trafford Centre

Mancunians love their toast – almost half (45%) of people in Manchester say they eat toast at least several times a week, with some consuming it once a day or even several times a day

· 37% of Mancunians have started buying cheaper things to toast, to keep costs down

· Over half a million (554K) toasters are thrown away in Manchester each year

· 29% of people in Manchester are not aware that their toasters can be recycled

There really is nothing quite like the smell and taste of fresh toast and the people of the UK love it – over 40 million slices of toast are eaten every day!

In advance of the Black Friday and Christmas spending bonanza, which sees UK households buy nearly 40 million electronic equipment, new research has found that across the UK we throw away 11.4 million toasters per year.

To help households create space for their new electronics Recycle Your Electricals have launched the Love Your Old Toaster campaign encouraging the nation to donate or recycle their old toasters and other electronics with the help of a giant 6.8ft by 12.8ft toaster, the campaign will raise awareness that there are now 5,000 electrical and battery recycling points across the UK. It will be launched at Manchester Trafford Centre on 4th November.

Lending a helping hand to launch the Love Your Old Toaster campaign and also donate and recycle her old unwanted electricals is TV presenter and Manchester girl Michelle Ackerley.

To help show the people of the UK what can be done with our toasters, and all their other old and unwanted small, household electricals, the Recycle Your Electricals campaign has joined forces with exciting young artist Eloisa Henderson-Figueroa, to create the giant, colourful toaster – which will appear in Manchester Trafford Centre (4-6 November) .

This toaster is not designed to make giant slices of toast (sorry to disappoint), but to create a standout, not-to-be missed drop-off point, with shoppers encouraged to bring along their old, unwanted electronics and pop them into the toaster.

REPIC and EMERGE Recycling, both Greater Manchester based, are working in partnership to provide collection, reuse and recycling of the electricals collected. Members of the REPIC team will also be on-hand to support Material Focus at the collection days offering advice to the public on recycling their electricals.

The design, by Eloisa Henderson-Figueroa features all-over hand-painted abstract illustrations of small household electricals, the kind of electrical items that are binned or hoarded in homes all over the UK, such as remote controls, speakers, mobile phones, batteries and kettles.

Recycle Your Electricals’ research also identified that 46% of those who have thrown away a toaster did not know how or where to recycle it or were not aware that it could be recycled. The Giant Toaster is designed to change that by helping to highlight that there are over 5,000 electrical and battery recycling points across the UK, with more being added. These recycling points can be found on the Recycle Your Electricals postcode locator – http://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk

Research conducted by Opinium and commissioned by Recycle Your Electricals to support the campaign also shone a fascinating light into the nation’s toast habits

· Despite what Instagram shots may have you believe, Avocado is not as popular as we may think. It narrowly missed out on the top ten spot with only 7% listing it as one of their favourite toppings. However, it remains a favourite in London where 14% would opt for it as a toast topping And 14% of 18-34 year olds also said it was one of their three favourite toppings to have on toast

· Marmalade appears to be losing popularity with 18-34 year olds (only 7%) chose it as one of their top three toppings, compared to 37% of people aged 55+. Although younger people do appear to have a sweet tooth; 23% chose Nutella / chocolate spread as one of their top three spreads compared to only 8% aged 35-54, and 2% aged 55+

What becomes of our old toasters each year throughout the UK?

· 11.4 million thrown away

· 12 million are taken to a recycling centre

Finally…. don’t try these at home! Weird and wonderful toppings included:

· Avocado and chocolate spread

· Bacon and marmalade

· Bread (no, that isn’t a typo -) some people eat bread on top of their toast!)

· Pot Noodle

· Baked beans, cheese and half an Oxo cube

· Banana and Marmite

· Banana and melted Snickers

· Pizza

· Peanut butter and ketchup

· Sushi

· Bovril and peanut butter

· Caviar, sliced silver skin onions, rollmop herring, very thick gravy, black treacle, smoked haddock

· Ice cream

· Lobster and chutney

· Peanut butter and beansprouts

· Sardines and jam

· Tinned spaghetti with cucumber and onion

Recycle Your Electricals campaign aims to get UK households to stop throwing away or hoarding their small old electronics and instead start donating or recycling them.

Electronicss contain some of the most precious materials on our planet – gold, silver, copper aluminium, and platinum. And yet the nation is throwing away 155,000 tonnes of electronics each year, and hoarding 527 million items. Everything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled and turned into anything from children’s playgrounds to life-saving equipment.

The Recycle Your electronics Giant Toaster is designed to create a bold, bright and unmissable bring bank for donating and recycling electronics, to raise awareness of the 5,000 thousand drop off points around the UK for old, unwanted electricals. Simply put your postcode into the locator on the Recycle Your Electronicss website to find your nearest locations for recycling or donations

Speaking about the campaign, Michelle Ackerley said, “I recently moved house, and the vast amount of old phones, cables, batteries, chargers and devices I found shocked me. Even the most organised and sustainable minded of us tend to hang on to these things. So, I’m taking part in the Recycle Your Electricals ‘Love Your Old Toaster’ campaign because I’m determined to be part of the generation that does something proactive about the problem of unwanted household electronics.

. We can all learn more about the small things we can do to help the world become a better, more sustainable place. It’s time for individual action, because anything with a plug, cable or battery can be recycled. Don’t dump yours in the rubbish and let it go to waste, log on to the Recycle Your Electricals website and pop your postcode in the locator, it will show you where you can take your beloved old toasters to be recycled – it’s that easy!”

Eloisa Henderson-Figueroa, artist added, “I’ve always been interested in recycling, and the small actions we can make to help the planet. So when I was approached to design and paint the toaster to encourage people to recycle their small electronics, I was thrilled! Colour and eye-catching designs can be a great way for people to take notice and be inspired to make changes. My design is a visual representation of iconic electrical items we hoard in our homes mixed in with my colourful style. The toaster is a fun way to engage people and raise awareness of a serious topic.”

Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus, the not-for-profit organisation leading the Recycle Your Electronics campaign, said “One of my favourite snacks is a slice of toast with butter and Marmite! Toasters are one of the nation’s favourite electrical items, and yet we aren’t showing them enough love. Toasters also contain an amazing array of metals including nickel, chromium, and iron. With 11 million toasters being thrown away each year, it’s time we all loved our toasters a bit more and instead recycled them or donated them and our other old unwanted electronics”.

Zoe Inman, Centre Director at Trafford Centre, said: “We are proud to join forces with Recycle Your Electronics to launch the ‘Love Your Old Toaster’ campaign, offering space for the stand-out toaster installation at Trafford Centre. The activation will give our customers, and residents in the Northwest [and beyond] the opportunity to recycle their old toasters and other electronics; we strongly support this initiative as we endeavour to work towards a more green and sustainable future”.

Thanks also to REPIC who have supported the campaign by managing the collection and recycling of the electronics and who will be at the Trafford Centre helping with advice and information.