A trial to boost re-use of electrical items is taking place at five Household Waste Recycling Centres across Devon, including the Newton Abbot Recycling Centre in Brunel Road. Vacuum cleaners, flat screen TVs and lamps that are brought to the centre in working condition will be PAT and function tested by trained site staff and will then be available in the site’s reuse shop for the public to buy, along with furniture, bric-a-brac and other re-useable household items. Non-working electrical items and any failing the testing procedure will be recycled.
In 2018/19, over 7,200 tonnes of electrical items were recycled through Devon’s recycling centres and the trial aims to go one step further and capture any items that are still in good working order to keep them in circulation for longer. It is estimated that following the testing process, 33% of TVs, 50% of vacuums and 72% of lighting/lamps will be suitable to re-use, meaning an additional 48 tonnes of electrical goods will be re-used per year at participating sites.
Recycling centre re-sale shops are popular with the public as they offer a range of household items at affordable prices. Public demand for re-sale shops to include electrical items has grown as budget savvy shoppers embrace the cost savings of buying re-usable goods, whilst also benefiting the environment. Grant funding has helped provide workshop and testing facilities as well as staff training to allow re-useable items to be function and safety tested prior to re-sale. It is anticipated that the scheme will be self-financing going forward which will help keep it going.
Subject to the success of the initial 5 site roll-out, other sites and other electrical items could be added to the scheme in future to further boost re-use in Devon.
For more information visit www.recycledevon.org.