Features

The WEEE man, currently installed at the Eden Project in Cornwall, was designed by Paul Bonomini. The sculpture is made from scrap such as old MP3 players and disused kettles and it weighs three tonnes, which is the amount of waste electric and electronic equipment the average UK citizen throws away in a lifetime. You can visit www.weeeman.org for details.

Waste is measured in weight rather than the number of items chucked away. So a whopping 69 per cent of WEEE is made up of large household appliances such as fridges and washing machines. IT waste makes up only seven per cent of the total figure, though you'll probably go through more printers than you will dishwashers.

In an average lifetime, it is estimated that each of us will throw away 35 mobile phones, 23 keyboards and mice, 15 printers, seven monitors and eight PC systems.

However, while our electronic waste is growing by four per cent a year at the moment, the amount of electrical products we buy is growing by 11 per cent. So at some point soon, our WEEE will increase considerably.