80% of your Black Friday bargains will be binned

Keep Britain Tidy is asking to resist the urge to splurge on Friday 24th November as the vast majority of purchases made will soon be thrown away.

Although 62% of the UK public now reports feeling concerned about the impact of purchases on the planet, the country is still braced for what many consider to be the shopping event of the year – Black Friday. 

Accumulatively, the last Friday in November is thought to be responsible for releasing 400,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, according to research by the University of Leeds. Despite this massive impact, 80% of everything bought is destined for landfill after just a couple of uses.

The issue adds to an already overwhelming waste disposal problem, with Government figures for 2021-2022 showing that local authorities in England sent more than 2.1tonnes of rubbish to landfill. That’s the same as the capacity of 10,500 Boeing Dreamlifter cargo jets. 12.4million tonnes were incinerated, with just 10.8million – less than half – the country’s waste being reused or recycled.

These shocking figures reveal the stark truth that if we are to bring our resource use and carbon emissions down to environmentally sustainable levels we need to understand that the things we buy last forever,’ said Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy.  ‘It’s alarming to think that around 80% of items bought on Black Friday are thrown away after a few uses, and some are binned without being used at all.’

Early next year, the charity will launch a new campaign, Buy Nothing New Month. Running from 1st to 31st, the ides is to encourage people in England to ‘save pennies and the planet’ be engaging with the reuse, freecycling, upcycling and circular economies. The public and organisations are invite to sign up online, and will receive help and advice on participating. 

Image: Claudio Schwarz