Material Focus announces ‘The Great Cable Challenge’

August 6th, 2024

Material Focus has unveiled a campaign to coincide with International E-Waste Day on 14 October to encourage the public to do more to recycle electrical cables.

Release of a campaign toolkit for local authorities, retailers, schools, and community projects to promote initiative to increase recycling of electrical wires

Material Focus has unveiled a campaign to coincide with International E-Waste Day on 14 October to encourage the public to do more to recycle electrical cables.

‘The Great Cable Challenge’ aims to highlight the ease at which cables and other household electricals can be recycled, with the goal of capturing a million items.

Communication toolkit

The environmental charity has published a communications toolkit for partners, including local authorities, retailers, schools, and community projects that wish to get involved.

According to Material Focus, many households struggle to know what to do with old or broken cables, often resulting in their disposal in the residual bin. Research by the charity suggests that five million cables are being discarded annually and that the average UK home has at least four or five unused cables.

Let’s recycle 1 million cables

Commenting on the initiative, Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus said: “The Great Cable Challenge is a simple way for everyone to make a big, collective difference. And by recycling at least one cable, people will then understand how easy it is to do. Let’s come together this October and recycle 1 million cables.”

Toolkit Information

The toolkit includes campaign materials such as a guide to ‘The Great Cable Challenge’, social media messaging, and information on how to set up pop-up collection sites for household electricals. HypnoCat will continue to serve as the mascot of the campaign in the promotional materials and TV advertisements created by Material Focus.

Pop-ups and promotions have been trialled with collaborators such as Ashford Borough Council and Sky. The charity has also partnered with Currys to provide a collection service of the recycled electricals at pop-up locations.

Material Focus plans to release more materials

Material Focus plans to release more materials for partners in the upcoming months, including further developments to the toolkits in August. Pop-up collections are set to start opening in September, with increasing communication leading up to October 14.

Butler added: “Almost all of us have those old, forgotten cables stashed away at home - I have a box under my bed of cables I’ve been holding onto ‘just in case’ but haven’t actually used in months or are broken. But by recycling them or donating those that still work, we can repurpose or reclaim that valuable copper and prevent it from going to waste."

Organisations interested in participating are encouraged to visit Material Focus’s campaign site for toolkit materials and to email hello@materialfocus.org.uk for more information