In 2011 the horse trams celebrated their 135th anniversary and featured in television programmes in Germany, Japan and the Netherlands as well as starring in Michael Portillo's BBC show Great British Railway Journeys.

BBC: Isle of Man horse tram passenger numbers fall by 5%

Partly for this reason, the handful of countries that have already introduced recycling programmes for electrical goods, such as the Netherlands and Sweden, have all chosen to make producers pay.

ECONOMIST: Recycling