People are being urged to take broken or unused electrical items for recycling as a part of a new awareness campaign.
A survey has found 84% of households have an average of 15 to 20 broken or unused electrical items in their home.
These include kettles, plugs and cables, mobile phones, TVs, microwaves, laptops, power tools and vacuum cleaners.
The first-of-its-kind national waste electrical recycling campaign will tell people what items can be recycled and where.
People can visit mywaste.ie to see the nearest location where they can drop items off.
Minister of State with responsibility for the Circular Economy Ossian Smyth told Newstalk Breakfast now is a good time for a clean-out.
"We're talking about anything that has a plug, a battery or a cable," he said.
"It could be an old mobile phone, a vacuum cleaner, a hair dyer or a toaster.
"Anything in your house that used to work, used to be electrical and plug in but doesn't work anymore.
"I think just about every house in Ireland has a drawer full of well-intentioned things that you know you can't put in the regular bin... and you're not quite sure where to put them.
"What we're saying to people is you can get rid of your electrical waste and it is completely free."
PC boards are pictured in an electrical waste recycling department. Image: Marijan Murat/DPA/PA ImagesMinister Smyth said these items contain important components that can be re-used.
"It's full of precious materials, it has things in it like gold on the contacts on electronics, pieces of lead," he said.
"All kinds of valuable materials which are critical to get recycled but which should not go into an incinerator and should not go into landfill.
"We're trying to recover those valuable materials from electronic waste and get them properly recycled."
Minister Smyth said there are also repairable options available.
"If you think there's a chance that you could fix them, there's a website called repairmystuff.ie which will help you find the nearest person for the type of thing you're trying to recycle," he added.
Independent research of 1,000 respondents found 30% of Irish households store old, broken or unused electrical items in garden sheds, 25% hoard them in drawers and 16% keep them in the attic.
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