Saving valuable materials – Material Focus impact review

Media Release, 15th January 2026

Material Focus has assessed the impact of publicly available recycling drop-off points on collections of electricals and portable battery rates in the UK. The detailed analysis of data across the UK explored a range of local collection services such as kerbside, retailer take-back, and local authority household recycling centres (HWRCs). The research explored whether any particular methods encouraged higher collection and recycling rates for small electrical items and batteries. The findings revealed that kerbside collection services and access to different types of recycling locations both impact the amount of recycling collected, but the picture is complex, and other factors may be important for determining the ‘best collection method’ for each local authority.

The research, “UK electricals and portable batteries – collections review”, was conducted by Material Focus, on behalf of the Joint Trade Associations (JTA) and DEFRA, to review the effectiveness of small mixed WEEE and portable battery public collections in the UK. Binning batteries and electricals means useful products go to waste, valuable materials are lost and can risk fires. The provision of reuse and recycling points makes it easier for anything and everything with a plug, battery or cable can be fixed, donated, sold or recycled and should never be binned.

The findings indicate that for both electricals and portable batteries, retailer recycling locations have an important role to play. Local authorities with better walking access to retailer recycling locations often saw lower council collection rates. This may be due to people using more convenient retailer take-back initiatives instead. Better driving access to local authority recycling centres was also linked to higher recycling rates for both waste types for most authorities. The research also found that while kerbside services and recycling access clearly help, they explain only part of the variation in collection rates of electricals across local authorities.

Scott Butler, Executive Director, Material Focus said: “Making it easier for the public to reuse and recycle electricals and portable batteries is a key part of driving behaviour change. This means building a comprehensive and accessible network of drop-off points in close proximity to where people live, work and shop. This research brings us a step closer to understanding what that network could look like in the future.”

The collection options analysed included kerbside services, local authority household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), and local retailer drop-offs. Over 100 local authorities currently offer kerbside services for small electricals across the UK, and at least 130 offer a portable battery kerbside collection. For this particular report, the impact of electrical recycling bring banks was not included – this will be included in future analysis.

• Offering a kerbside collection for small electricals seems to boost collections – however the impact is very variable, suggesting that other factors may be more important. Councils who offer kerbside services collect on average 15–22% more small electricals than those that don’t. For batteries, kerbside collection services had a stronger effect, increasing collections by about 49% (95% CI: 26%–76%)  more than those without the service. 
• Greater walking access to retailer recycling locations is linked to reduced council collections. A 10% increase in population with ‘easy access’ ( 15 min walk) corresponds to ~15-27% decrease in small electricals collected for most authorities

This research did not look at the cost, operational and communication challenges associated with the introduction of new kerbside and public collection services. Research conducted in 2022 did look at a possible costing model and capacity, but further work is needed in this area. Material Focus were not able for this report to access location specific portable battery retailer collections to see what impact they may have on other collections and this could be an area to look at in the future.

Research methodology – the  analysis used linear regression models to investigate how local recycling infrastructure (kerbside collection and access to drop-off locations) influences the amount of electricals and portable battery recycling collected across UK local authorities. Recycling collected was measured in kg/person, collected by authorities, as reported to WasteDataFlow in 2023.

In late 2025 Material focus published a number of pilot case studies of over 40 of the 70 Electrical Recycling Fund projects that it had funded since 2020. These pilots explored a number of different methods for making reuse and recycling of electricals easier for the public, including kerbside, bring banks, drop-off points and repair cafes. How to Guides for implementing reuse and recycling locations for local authorities and organisations are available here.

ENDS

For more information: please contact Kate@materialfocus.org.uk / mobile 07714 708416

Notes to Editors

About Material Focus

Material Focus is a not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to stop the nation throwing away or hoarding all their old, small electricals. Material Focus is delivering the UK-wide Recycle Your Electricals campaign. The campaign is revealing the value hidden in electricals and is making it easier for us all to recycle and reuse the small electricals we no longer need by providing more recycling points as well as providing practical information on how households can reuse and recycle.

The campaign is funded by producers of electrical appliances which pays for a range of activities, including communications, behaviour change activities, increased recycling projects and research. Ultimately the aim is to support actions that will help the UK increase the levels of reuse and recycling of waste electricals.