Primary schools across the UK are being invited to take part in the Hidden Treasure Hunt as the free education and recycling initiative returns for a second year.
Schools receive free teaching resources to help children learn about the valuable materials inside everyday electricals and why they should be repaired, donated, sold or recycled and never thrown away.
Pupils are then encouraged to take that learning home, helping their families find the old, broken and unwanted electricals gathering dust in their homes, and recycle them. Families can register qualifying recycling visits to earn Planet Care points for their school, with Currys gift cards worth £20,000 up for grabs.
The Hidden Treasure Hunt builds on a successful first year when more than 59,000 recycling visits were recorded and almost 79,000 items were recycled, repaired or reused, keeping valuable materials in circulation and reducing e-waste.
The campaign returns to get families hunting out the 880 million unwanted and unused electricals stashed in UK homes, around 30 per household, according to research from Material Focus, the non-profit behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign.
Phones, laptops, tablets and games consoles that still work could be donated, sold, or traded in. Material Focus research published in 2024 estimates that households could raise up to £6,330 by selling unused tech, giving families another reason to take part.
The UK currently throws away 103,000 tonnes of electricals, with raw materials inside estimated to be worth around £488 million. Materials like gold, copper and lithium, can be recovered and used again in new technology, including lifesaving medical equipment.
The campaign also carries an important safety message: recycling electricals correctly helps prevent battery fires. Lithium-ion batteries hidden inside everyday items can be crushed or damaged when placed in general waste or household recycling, causing serious fires in bin lorries and waste facilities.
How families and school can take part
Teachers can register an eligible UK primary school through The Pod, Wastebuster’s school platform, to access free lessons, activities, posters and materials to take home.
Families can then:
Electricals can be recycled at over 30,000 collection points across the UK, including Currys stores. Families recycling through Currys can also benefit from trade in value for eligible items and Currys’ Cash for Trash scheme, receiving at least a £5 discount voucher on purchases over £25. (*Terms and conditions apply).
Recycling points are listed on the Recycle Your Electricals locator, with most people in the UK within 15 minutes of their nearest drop off point.
New for this year, primary schools will compete on separate small and large school leaderboards giving schools of different sizes better opportunities to win. Gift cards worth £5,000, £2,5000 and £1,000 will be awarded to the three highest ranking schools in each category to spend on technology to support pupil learning. Further prize draws will give schools and families more chances to be rewarded.
The Hidden Treasure Hunt is developed and delivered by Wastebuster as part of the national Recycle Your Electricals campaign in partnership with Currys, Material Focus, Ecogenesys, DHL and GAP Group.
Katy Newnham, Founder and CEO, Wastebuster, said:
“The Hidden Treasure Hunt is about helping children see unwanted electricals differently – not as rubbish, but as something that could still have value or contain valuable materials that can be used again.
“Last year, children and families gave almost 79,000 electricals the opportunity for repair, reuse or recycling. This year, we want to inspire even more families to rummage through their homes, uncover their hidden treasure and take positive action. By making reuse and recycling fun and rewarding, we can help children build habits that last far beyond the campaign.”
Moira Thomas, Group Sustainability and ESG Director, Currys said:
“Almost 79,000 unwanted electricals had the chance to be repaired, reused or recycled through the Hidden Treasure Hunt last year. It gets children talking about tech waste at home, and gives schools the chance to win prizes. At Currys, we’re on a mission to give tech a longer life, so we’d love even more schools and families to get involved and bring their old tech to their local store.”
Scott Butler, Executive Director, Material Focus, leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, said:
“With 880 million electricals gathering dust in UK homes, there is a huge opportunity to put working tech back into use and recover valuable materials from the rest.
Our message is simple: anything with a plug, battery or cable should never be binned. By helping children understand that electricals should be repaired, donated, sold or recycled the Hidden Treasure Hunt can build habits that benefit families, schools and the environment.”
Graeme Milne, Chief Executive, Ecogenesys, said:
“Ecogenesys represents some of the UK’s leading electrical producers and is pleased to again be supporting the Hidden Treasure Hunt, alongside key partners. There are thousands of locations across the UK to recycle electricals and working with schools, we hope that this campaign will show even more families just how easy it is, contributing to a more circular economy for the future.”
Paul Stone, Managing Director, DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland, said:
“The Hidden Treasure Hunt is a brilliant example of how education, sustainability and community action can come together to drive real change. For these materials to be recovered and given a second life, they must first move through a safe, efficient and traceable supply chain – and that’s where logistics plays a critical role. We’re proud to support a campaign that not only helps tackle the UK’s growing e-waste challenge, but also inspires children and families to think differently about the value of the technology sitting unused at home. By connecting schools with responsible recycling pathways at scale, we’re helping to build a more circular economy and a greener future for the next generation.”
Peter Moody, Group CEO, GAP Group North East
“Every other part of this campaign gets unwanted electricals moving out of the drawer, into a collection point and on their way. Our job begins where that journey ends. As a WEEE recycler, GAP Group is where the hidden treasure is actually uncovered. Sorting what families and schools bring in, recovering the valuable materials locked inside and giving the right items a second life.
“That means we can show children what really happens to that old toy, charger or electric toothbrush after they drop it off – proof that the materials they’ve been learning about don’t disappear but go on to become something new. We’re proud to bring that real-world recycling and resource-recovery expertise to the Hidden Treasure Hunt, and to help the next generation see that there’s genuine value in the technology we too often throw away.”
Find out more at www.hiddentreasurehunt.org or register a school through www.jointhepod.org.
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Notes to editors
Campaign dates
Images: Approved images for use in connection with the promotion of the Hidden Treasure Hunt 2026–27 are available to download here: Image Selects – Hidden Treasure Hunt 2026–27
About Wastebuster and The Pod
Wastebuster is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company and UNEP-accredited environmental NGO, established in 2006 to inspire children and young people to protect the planet through learning and action. Working with schools, local authorities, government and industry, it develops large-scale environmental education and behaviour-change programmes that turn learning into practical action in homes and communities.
The Pod is Wastebuster’s environmental education platform for schools, providing free curriculum-linked resources and national campaigns including Waste Week, Switch Off Fortnight, Water Week, What’s Under Your Feet?, Recycle to Read and the Hidden Treasure Hunt. Wastebuster’s programmes engage schools and young people across the UK and internationally.
About Currys
Currys plc is a leading omnichannel retailer of technology products and Services, operating online and through 691 stores in 6 countries. We Help Everyone Enjoy Amazing Technology, however they choose to shop with us. In the UK & Ireland we trade as Currys and in the UK we operate our own mobile virtual network, iD Mobile. In the Nordics we trade under the Elkjøp brand. We’re the market leader in all markets, able to serve all households and employing more than 24,000 capable and committed colleagues. We believe in the power of technology to improve lives, helping people stay connected, productive, fit, healthy, and entertained. We’re here to help everyone enjoy those benefits and with our scale and expertise, we are uniquely placed to do so. Our full range of Services and support makes it easy for our customers to discover, choose, afford and enjoy the right technology to the full. The Group’s operations include one of Europe’s largest technology repair facilities, a sourcing office in Hong Kong and an extensive distribution network, centred on Newark in the UK and Jönköping in Sweden, enabling fast and efficient delivery to stores and homes. We’re a leader in giving technology a longer life through repair, recycling and reuse. We’re reducing our impact on the environment in our operations and our wider value chain and we aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. We offer customers products that help them save energy, reduce waste and save water, and we partner with charitable organisations to bring the benefits of amazing technology to those who might otherwise be excluded.
About Material Focus and Recycle Your Electricals
Material Focus is a not-for-profit organisation working to stop unwanted electricals being thrown away or held onto. It delivers the UK-wide Recycle Your Electricals campaign, revealing the value hidden in electricals and helping households reuse and recycle items they no longer need.
Funded by electrical producers, its work includes communications, behaviour change activities, recycling projects and research. The campaign provides practical information and a recycling locator to help people find responsible routes for their unwanted electricals.
About Ecogenesys
Ecogenesys, formerly REPIC, is an approved compliance scheme for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and packaging. Founded by producers, for producers, it operates as a not-for-profit, member-owned compliance scheme.
Ecogenesys works on behalf of its members to promote the reuse and recycling of electrical items and contributes to the development of extended producer responsibility. Building on REPIC’s experience, it also offers services including training and research consultancy to help organisations navigate environmental regulation and sustainability.
About DHL
DHL is a global logistics brand and part of DHL Group. Its divisions provide services including parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfilment, international express, road, air and ocean transport, and industrial supply chain management.
DHL connects people and businesses through logistics services and specialist solutions across sectors including technology, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and retail. Its work supports the movement of goods and materials through supply chains, including circular economy activities.
About GAP Group
GAP Group is a UK-based, AATF-authorised, nationwide recycler of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and a resource-recovery specialist, headquartered in Gateshead in the North East of England.
Operating its own haulage fleet, GAP sorts, processes and recovers value from unwanted electricals and cooling appliances across the UK, and refurbishes working appliances for reuse through its Renew2U brand.
As the Hidden Treasure Hunt’s processing partner, GAP brings the downstream expertise that turns collected electricals back into usable materials and new products.
Editors, journalists and broadcasters are welcome to visit GAP Group’s headquarters and WEEE processing facility in Gateshead for filming, photography and interviews. This includes the opportunity to see small WEEE being sorted and processed alongside GAP’s wider recycling and resource-recovery operation.
Contact: connor.benson@gap-groupuk.com
Media enquiries
Wastebuster: katy@wastebuster.co.uk
Currys: corporatepr@currys.co.uk
Material Focus: media@materialfocus.org.uk
Ecogenesys: karen@createmcr.com
DHL Team at Another Word: DHLSupplyChain@anotherword.com
GAP Group: connor.benson@gap-groupuk.com
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