Government minister Dr Thérèse Coffey MP officially opened the UK’s “biggest” fridge recycling plant this week, with online retailer AO saying it will process more than 700,000 appliances in its first year of operations.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Dr Coffey, heard from the team at AO Recycling how the site will recycle a quarter of the fridges thrown away annually in the UK.
As well as fridges, the plant will also process washing machines, dishwashers, tumble driers and other household electrical waste.
Online retailer AO.com made the move into recycling earlier this year with the construction of the new facility and the launch of AO Recycling. The move is part of a bid by the company to shift the emphasis in UK WEEE recycling to retailer take-back.
Most of the appliances arriving at the site for recycling, or for refurbishment and resale, will have arrived from AO.com customers who have purchased a new product.
“AO Recycling is the first stage in our ambitious plans to transform the way we recycle WEEE in the UK. It’s the biggest investment in UK fridge recycling in more than a decade and will play a vital role in ensuring we have the capacity needed to deal with the millions of appliances which are thrown away every year.”
AO Recycling’s Anthony Sant said: “AO Recycling is the first stage in our ambitious plans to transform the way we recycle WEEE in the UK. It’s the biggest investment in UK fridge recycling in more than a decade and will play a vital role in ensuring we have the capacity needed to deal with the millions of appliances which are thrown away every year.
“Bringing together electrical retailing and recycling makes sense from an efficiency perspective and an environmental perspective. It’s right that AO.com as a retailer should take-back unwanted appliances from customers when delivering new products – and from there it’s a natural progression to also take on responsibility for recycling them properly.
“It’s a closed loop system where we will ensure that a major part of the product life cycle is our responsibility. We believe it will fundamentally change the way we recycle fridges and LDAs in the UK.”
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “Congratulations to AO. This is a significant step by a British business to increase our capacity to recycle fridges and other electrical household appliances.
“We believe we need to shift the emphasis to a system based on retailer take-back – and that consumers should rightly expect this as standard when they buy a new product. It will require a collective approach to managing WEEE from retailers, producers, recyclers and policy makers to increase home collections from customers.”
“Although collection and recycling of household electrical items is increasing, we all have a responsibility to our environment and it is only through businesses, consumers, and government working together that we will recycle more and protect our environment for the next generation.”
The Telford recycling plant is equipped with cutting edge technology to handle all aspects of the complex fridge and LDA recycling process.
A repair and refurbishment operation ensures appliances which can be sold on as secondhand items are given a new lease of life. Cardboard packaging from AO.com customers’ new products are also be recycled at the site.
For fridges which have reached the end of their working life, the first stage of the recycling process involves removing hazardous oils and refrigerants, as well as valuable compressors.
Then, appliances are deposited into an 80-tonne shredding machine built exclusively for AO Recycling by Austrian firm Andritz. Dubbed “Bertha The Big Green Recycling Machine” the shredder uses large rotating steel chains to smash the fridges and LDAs into small pieces inside a sealed chamber.
The remaining plastics, metals and insulation foam are then separated and sorted at the plant for recycling. Dangerous gases including CFCs in older fridges and pentane in newer ones are also safely removed during the process.
AO Recycling says the new plant is equipped to deal with changing technology in appliance design and manufacture including larger American style fridges and machines with LED displays.
AO.com CEO Steve Caunce said: “With AO Recycling and this fantastic facility at Telford we’re completing that ‘closed loop’ system where we have a stake in a large part of the supply chain from purchase of a new machine to safe disposal at end of life.
“AO Recycling Telford is trailblazing a new approach to electrical goods recycling in the UK which will have benefits for society, the environment and our economy. At the heart of that approach is the principle that the retailer should take away unwanted items from their customers.
“We’re leading the way with our first plant in Telford and believe this is the start of a revolutionary new way of doing things.”
AO has set out its ambitious plans to transform WEEE recycling in the UK with its recently published Document for Change.
Published last year, the document is a response to the Government’s WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulation Consultation, and is a call to action to the Government, recycling industry, retailers and producers to work together to increase the amount of WEEE recycled in the UK. The policy document has set a bold target of increasing home collections of unwanted electrical appliances to 70 per cent
Anthony Sant continued: “We have heard a lot recently about the problems associated with plastic waste. However, waste electrical appliances should also be a priority as this is a hugely challenging waste stream.
“We believe we need to shift the emphasis to a system based on retailer take-back – and that consumers should rightly expect this as standard when they buy a new product. It will require a collective approach to managing WEEE from retailers, producers, recyclers and policy makers to increase home collections from customers.
Telford MP Lucy Allan and white goods manufacturers also attended the official opening.
