Microwave waste revealed by PhD student
Published on 24 May 12
The vast majority of the millions of microwave ovens thrown away every year could be easily fixed and reused, a Manchester PhD student has found
Making simple repairs could save the UK could save millions of pounds by replacing fuses or plugs rather than throwing away perfectly reusable microwaves with brand new ones.
Published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, PhD student Azadeh Dindarian and her research team found that 54% of microwaves in every year appeared to be disposed of for cosmetic reasons or due to minor faults – when 85% could be safely repaired.
They have also found that some simple changes in design could prevent some of these faults from happening altogether.
Finding ways to re-use discarded microwaves could help to prevent thousands of tonnes of waste every year. These devices are often shredded in specialist recycling centres which are not often capable of retrieving valuable materials.
- In the UK alone, nearly one million tonnes of electronic waste is generated per year and worldwide the volume is estimated at between 20 and 50 million tonnes, and to be growing at a rate of 4% per year.
The researchers now plan to extend the research to include washing machines, fridges and other devices to reveal the full scale of appliance waste in the UK.
Azadeh said: “Our research shows that the vast majority of dumped microwaves and other white goods could easily be re-used, however unwanted functional products tend to end up being wasted rather than being disposed of through alternative routes.”