Communities, organisations and businesses are already making electricals more circular. Explore some of the examples – and share your own with us.
Jiva claims its proprietary natural fibre-based substrate for printed circuit boards can be dissolved in hot water, making it easy to recover copper and other materials.
IKEA is embedding circular product design across its range and rolling out services that should make it easier for people to reuse, repair, refurbish and recycle.
Kibu’s wired headphones for kids are made from plant-based and recycled materials, contain no single-use plastic and are modular – allowing parts to be replaced easily.
Kibu
Anglepoise lamps are designed to be handed down through generations, with a lifetime guarantee and repair service that keeps them going indefinitely.
Numatic uses post-consumer, post-industrial recycled plastic across its entire range of vacuum cleaners and claims a 30% reduction in energy consumption for its ERP180 model.
Kitchen equipment maker Dualit has a reputation for durable and repairable products. It also refurbishes and re-sells toasters, kettles, coffee machines and catering products through its outlet.
Dualit
Sky has made it easy for customers to return set-top boxes in a pre-paid envelope. The next step is to design the devices with circularity in mind.
Currys offers a discount voucher to customers who hand unwanted tech over for recycling when they buy something new in store.
Beko is one of Europe’s largest white goods manufacturers. Its repair and refurbishment programme extends the life of large appliances, giving customers an alternative to buying new.
Philips offers customers a refurbished device before a new one. Refurbishment as a business model, not an afterthought.
AO offers a collection service – with or without purchase of a new product. Since 2017 its Telford plant has recovered materials from over 5 million home appliances.
VM02’s repair and refurbishment scheme keeps millions of devices in use – curbing the environmental impact of the UK’s mobile infrastructure.
Renault’s Flins factory refurbishes electric vehicle batteries and extends their use well beyond the life-span of the vehicle itself.
New UK partnerships are developing scalable ways to recover lithium from battery recycling – keeping one of our most valuable and finite materials in the economy.
DEScycle’s Teesside plant will process 50-100 tonnes a year of printed circuit boards and other e-waste, initially recovering gold, copper, silver and palladium.
Samsung enables consumers to repurpose handsets into smart home controllers. The Upcycling at Home software enhances built-in sound- and light-control features.
Samsung
n2s specialises in working with organisations to clean and destroy data from unwanted tech, refurbishing and extending product life and lowering their environmental impacts.
n2s
Tern Eco software helps businesses reclaim pre-owned products for reuse or resale. The platform supports takeback for any physical product – including tech.
Tern Eco
Electrolux has piloted offering its robotic vacuum on a pay-per-use basis, with consumables and maintenance included. When a device is returned, it is refurbished for reuse.
Hotpoint provides buyers of its appliances free parts for the first 10 years, provided the parts are fitted by its engineers.
Fairphone smartphones are modular, and customers can order replacement parts themselves – making it easier to repair and update handsets.
Library of Things lets people borrow everyday items – from power tools to sewing machines. Reducing demand for new electricals one loan at a time.
Through a network of bring banks and retail outlets, ILM is making it easier for households in rural Scotland to recycle electricals and acquire affordable refurbished items.
ILM Highland
Inspired by one woman’s mission to see less go to waste. This is a Repair Café, Library of Things, and professional repair directory – built and run by volunteers to keep everyday electricals (and other things) out of landfill and back into use locally.
Love Haslemere Hate Waste
Groundwork runs reuse and repair programmes across the UK, keeping electricals in communities and out of the waste stream.
Groundwork
Library members in Gloucestershire can borrow tools from three local libraries across the county – helping reduce costs and building a culture of reuse.
Gloucestershire Library of Things
This rapidly expanding Derry/Londonderry volunteer initiative runs repair cafes, workshops, bookable repairs, donation points and a library of things.
Repair & Share Foyle
2econd Chance collects unwanted computers and trains people who otherwise struggle to work to refurbish the tech. Devices are donated locally or sold at low cost.
Working with the local authority in Newport, Wastesavers has expanded donation points and added small domestic appliances to existing weekly collections.
WastesaversMaterial Focus is back innovators to speed up the transition to a circular electricals economy.
Circular Electricals FundContact us today to talk about what we could do together
Our Locator is available as a widget (below) which can be adapted to sit within your website
Material Focus is an independent not-for-profit organisation on a mission to change the way we think about our unwanted electricals, helping us all see them as valuable resources rather than useless waste. We want to make it simpler for each and every one of us in the UK to recycle our old and unwanted electricals or send them to be refurbished and reused. We do this by working with local authorities, community organisations, producers, retailers, high-profile individuals and experts, and the public.
Recycle Your Electricals is a UK-wide campaign calling on households to stop throwing away or hoarding their old electricals – and start reusing and recycling them.
We motivate and make it easier for everyone to reuse or recycle all their unwanted electricals, saving precious resources from being lost forever. Our best-in-class online Recycling Locator helps people find their nearest electrical recycling point. We work at all levels from grassroots organisations to high profile media campaigns in collaboration with designers, artists, businesses and influencers. Find out more
Although we’ve only been up and running since early 2020, we’re already making a big difference.
To date, we have worked with over two thirds of all UK local authorities, and funded over 70 reuse and recycling projects, from the Orkneys to the Isles of Scilly.
Our mesmerising messenger, HypnoCat has appeared widely across the UK, helping to get more and more people to start recycling their electricals. And the issue is becoming more high profile. We’re seeing huge increases in stories reporting on the hidden potential of our old electricals, with thousands of media articles mentioning our work, both online, in the press and on TV and radio.
HypnoCat is our award-winning messenger, bringing pink fluffy charm and personality to the campaign.
He appears across the UK on billboards, bus sides, social media and on leaflets and magazines through people’s letterboxes – hypnotising the nation into recycling their electricals. Since 2021, he’s scooped more than a couple of prestigious communications awards.
Our funding comes from UK WEEE Regulations Compliance Fees. Electrical producers pay these fees if they don’t meet annual recycling targets set by the government. The fees are set higher than the average costs of collections to encourage collections to take place. We manage spending of the fees to support reuse and recycling of electricals in the UK. Learn more about our funding and governance.
