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

Consumers spent 1.7bn on festive lighting last year and much of it is treated as disposable

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.