The majority of the UK public (83 per cent) are making efforts to cut the amount of plastic they use and throw away, however, a survey by the phone-recycling company Gazelle, also found that eight out of ten (81 per cent) say that although they want to do more to help the environment, they feel confused about what can and cannot be reused or recycled.

The so-called ‘Attenborough Effect’ has also been given some credence with the survey showing that 81 per cent of those who have watched shows like Blue Planet saying that the programmes have made them re-evaluate their behaviour and consider the environment more.

When shopping 67 per cent of shoppers now consider environmental factors when choosing what to buy, rather than selecting products solely based on price. However, over half (57 per cent) of those surveyed admit to having put a phone, laptop, tablet, charger, or another electrical item in the household bin in the last year. And on average, just one-third of us (34 per cent) have recycled our phones or tablets.

“It’s been estimated that only 15-20 per cent of all e-waste is recycled, and the rest ends up in landfill,” said Yanyan Ji, SVP marketing at Gazelle. “Our latest research suggests the cause of that is not consumers being unwilling to change their behaviour – rather, they don’t always know what to do.”

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