Brits urged to recycle millions of unwanted faddy kitchen appliances
UK households are holding on to a whopping 18.2 million kitchen electricals that are rarely or never used.
According to research carried out on behalf of Recycle Your Electricals, millions of fad kitchen gadgets, from air fryers to bread makers, blenders to chocolate fountains, juicers to popcorn machines, are gathering dust in UK cupboards.
Ninety two percent of UK households own ‘FadTech’ – with an average of four items per home – but nearly half of households say their once-trendy items are now rarely or never used.
The top five most likely items to be gathering dust are: ice cream makers, chocolate fountains, hostess trolleys, popcorn machines and bread makers. The number of unused bread makers in UK cupboards would stretch from London to Paris and halfway back again.
In addition, there are an estimated 2.4 million unused blenders taking up space in cupboards.
Recycle Your Electricals is on a mission to get Brits to fish out their FadTech and donate or recycle them to allow the valuable materials in them to be reused as something even more useful.
For example, the estimated 2.4 million blenders gathering dust across the UK could be recycled into 2.1 million defibrillators, according to the study.
Scott Butler, executive director of the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, said: “We’ve all fallen for the latest FadTech – including me – and sometimes they become kitchen staples. But, often, after taking up counter space they’re consigned to a cupboard.
“They’re not cheap, so it can feel wasteful to clear them out but they can be recycled into something really useful or donated if they’re still in good condition. If you have FadTech to recycle, the easiest thing to do is visit our postcode locator to find your nearest drop-off point.”
Actor and presenter, Joanna Page, has a stash of FadTech, thanks to her children. She is backing the campaign, and said: “I’ve got children, so we get these items thinking they’ll be fun and they are at first. But then you don’t use them more than once a year and they just end up taking up space in your cupboard.
“I’ve got two waffle makers, I don’t even know why I need two. They’re not cheap, so it can be hard to part with them, but it’s great to hear they can be recycled and free up some all-important cupboard space.”Across UK homes, there are 6.5 million kettles, 3.4 million microwaves and 3.6 million toasters that are either broken or spare.
These could also be recycled into something really useful by visiting http://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk
Category Archives: Environmental
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Glen Dimplex profit increase
The main business of Glen Dimplex, the Irish-headquartered heating, cooling and appliance giant, nearly quadrupled its profits last year as the company substantially concluded a period of restructuring.
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Glen Dimplex increased turnover by just 4pc in the period to €944m, with growth coming mainly from the group’s energy efficient heating and ventilation products, which are in high demand in the EU because of public policy initiatives.
“Encouragingly, the strong profit growth experienced in the 2021/22 financial year has continued into the early part of the 2022/23 financial year and the outlook remains positive driven by strong underlying demand trends, a supportive policy environment and fiscal supports for end users,” the accounts stated.The company, which is owned by the Louth-based Naughton family, has been undergoing a transformation in recent years to focus more on sustainability and the electrification of energy, increasingly via smart tech.The firm sold the well-known consumer appliance business Morphy Richards to long-term Chinese manufacturing partner Xinbao for €185m. Glen Dimplex retained the rights to distribute the brand in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia for 10 years as part of the deal.The shift has seen Glen Dimplex become very busy in terms of mergers, acquisitions and disposals, with the company an active buyer of heating and ventilation businesses
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Recycling plastic from Appliances
Once collected, recycled plastic from homeappliances can end up being used in a number of sectors:
🚜 Agricultural: 1.6%
🚗 Automotive: 33.1%
🏗️ Construction: 9.8%
💪 Durable goods: 9.0%
💻 EEE: 6.3%
🚢 Export: 18.4%
🔄 Other: 21.9%
More information https://statreport2022.applia-europe.eu/pillar/1/routes-of-recycled-plastic
Miele cares about sustainability
Miele teamed up with sustainability champions across the world to share knowledge, inspiration and successes. ‘Stories from our only home’ with Norbert Niederkofler is the first in a series of films that aim to inspire change. Discover how and why the 3-Star Michelin Chef has redesigned his menu and his restaurant from the ground up.
Want to learn more about sustainability at Miele? Take a look at this: https://www.miele.com/c/sustainability-3359.htm
Average material composition of large home appliances
Steel plays a vital role in the construction of large home appliances. From refrigerators to washing machines, steel provides strength, durability, and stability helping to keep home appliances running smoothly each day
Haier Gets ISI Certification, For Its Indian Manufacturing Unit
Haier Appliances India, announced that its state-of-the-art deep freezer manufacturing unit in Ranjangaon – Pune has achieved a significant milestone by obtaining the prestigious ISI certification. The certification, issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), validates that all products manufactured at this facility meet the highest standards of safety, durability, and performance, ensuring customer satisfaction
AGA Rangemaster Ltd made a pledge to reduce their carbonfootprint
During 2022 AGA Rangemaster Ltd made a pledge to reduce their #carbonfootprint. To achieve this a number of initiatives were identified through delivering excellence initiatives and working in collaboration with stakeholders from all sites we set about reviewing our processes, our reliance on fossil fuels and identifying innovative ways of saving energy and reducing our carbon footprint.
Many of the initiatives required little to no capital investment. Other projects included the replacement of fluorescent lighting and high intensity lighting with LED lighting. Theses initiatives and others will continue throughout 2023.
As a result of our efforts our year ending 2022 data has been externally verified and we have reduced our total t co2e by 917.6 tonnes. This is a superb achievement and AGA Rangemaster Limited would like to thank all those who have participated. The challenge is to reduce our t co2e even further during 2023 as we continue in the Race to Zero emissions.
Fridges and dishwashers packed in reusable plastic?
Large household appliances will have to be transported almost entirely using reuseable packaging by 2030, according to the European Commission’s proposed packaging waste law, a move widely questioned by players in the supply chain.
The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), tabled in November last year, aims to slash unnecessary boxes and wrappings while promoting recycling as well as reuse.
The proposal, which is currently being examined by the European Parliament and EU member states before eventual adoption, has caused anxiety in the retail and logistics sector, which is still in the process of analysing the implications of the Commission’s proposed reuse targets.
But the white goods sector is confronted with headaches of their own.
Under the Commission’s proposal, 90% of packaging used for large household appliances must be “made available in reusable transport packaging” by 2030 when they are placed on the EU market for the first time.
The mandate is contained in Article 26.1 of the draft regulation, which lays down re-use targets for packaging used in the transport of “large household appliances” such as refrigerators, washing machines, tumble dryers, electric fans or air conditioners.
Whether that objective makes sense is open for debate, though.
The provision “is a significant source of concern for our sector”, said Paolo Falcioni, director general of APPLiA, a trade association representing the home appliance industry in Europe.
According to APPLiA, packaging for large household appliances must be functional and protective, to ensure the product is not damaged physically or by humidity during its journey from the manufacturer to the retailer and eventually to the consumer.
Packaging typically used for this purpose include pallets, plastic straps, carboard boxes, and pallet wrappings, some of which “cannot be reused due to technical constraints”, APPLiA said.
“For example, pallet wrapping may become damaged or contaminated with materials that cannot be adequately cleaned, rendering them unusable for future shipments. In other cases, reuse may be possible, but the cost and complexity of returning the packaging to the manufacturer can make it impractical,”
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