The majority of people would be prepared to recycle their old electronic goods in the future if awareness of the issue was raised, a new report has found.

Recycle Now carried out research into the disposal of appliances like kettles, mobile phones and TVs, which revealed 83 per cent of respondents were in favour of recycling these products but did not know that they could.

It also discovered that 16 to 24-year-olds were the age group least likely to be aware of this.

Gerrard Fisher, a spokesman for the organisation, explained it had launched a website to encourage young people to throw out their electronic products in a more eco-friendly manner.

However, he noted it was important not to make young adults a scapegoat for failing to recycle these products.

"Our campaign is for everyone, as it is apparent that a third of people were not even aware that they could recycle anything powered by a plug, battery or charger," he said.