UK households bin 168m Christmas lights and ‘fast tech’ items a year

UK households have thrown away an estimated 168m light-up Christmas items and other “fast-tech” gifts over the past year, a study suggests.

The research by the non-profit group Material Focus found about £1.7bn was spent last year on Christmas lighting, including 39m sets of fairy lights.

Consumers bought a further 28m light-up items such as garlands, wreaths, stars and snow globes, along with 23m light-up figures and characters and 16m pre-lit Christmas trees.

The research was based on information provided by 4,000 UK adults, who were asked how many cheap light-up electrical items they bought and how many were thrown away. This was then extrapolated to the UK population – giving a figure of 168m items consigned to the bin.

The researchers said disposable technology was often powered