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With annual Black Friday and holiday shopping sprees approaching, International E-Waste Day 2026 shines a spotlight on the booming trade in "Fast Tech"—USB adapters, mini fans, LED lights, electronic toys and other small, inexpensive gadgets.

New research finds that almost 90% of European consumers from 12 countries own at least one such device and 78% bought one in the past year. But when the devices become obsolete, broken or simply no longer wanted, many are tossed into household trash or hoarded in drawers instead of being recycled.

This rapidly growing and largely overlooked waste stream is dubbed "Fast Tech" to draw a deliberate parallel with ubiquitous, inexpensive fashion products, often used for relatively short periods and easily replaced.

Commissioned by the WEEE Forum and conducted by Bellegarde Scientific Consulting, a new Fast Tech consumer survey of 10,245 adults in 12 European countries found that Fast Tech has become a routine consumer purchase, driven largely by low prices, convenience and modest expectations of how long products need to last.

The findings suggest consumers often knowingly accept the implicit Fast Tech bargain: The product is inexpensive, does the job for a while and can easily be replaced.

Indeed, 58% of buyers could recall a Fast Tech product they had used for no more than six months, including 39% who recalled one they discarded unused, after a single use or within a month.

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