Electrical Products May Use More Recycled Materials

A recently-established and UK-funded venture could result in recycled materials forming the backbone of electrical products before too long, Environmental News has learnt.

WRAP, or the ‘Waste and Resources Action Programme’ came into being nine years ago. Initially, it concentrated on plastic packaging, but WRAP is now aiding manufacturers create new products out of unwanted electrical items. The aim of the venture is to reduce both the amount of raw materials consumed by electrical manufacturers and, as a consequence, decrease current costs associated with the manufacturing stage.

Recycled Components

The first organisation to get involved with WRAP was Indesit, a pair of whose washing machines – the Hotpoint Ultima and Hotpoint Aquarius – both feature recycled components - specifically, the plastic plates covering their rear access sites.

The material used by Indesit was originally used in fridges and, according to WRAP, this makes the manufacturer the first to incorporate waste-derived components into mass-market electrical products.

WEEE Directive

According to the project manager of WRAP, Gerrard Fisher, the introduction of the European Union’s WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive was what kick-started WRAP’s new line of work – a directive legislating that unwanted electronic/ electrical equipment is both treated and got rid with environmental concerns in mind.

He said: “We thought we could develop a market for the materials from these waste products to give them value and to encourage their recycling.”

In this way, WRAP teamed up with Axion Recycling. Multiple corporate approaches were made before Indesit agreed to use recycled components in new products – a trend, said Fisher, linked to the company’s perceptions of non-original materials.

“From a recycling point of view, their focus was on end of life rather than how they could get recycled materials into their product”, he explained.

Consumer rationale came into play as well. “There used to be the assumption that recycled material meant lower quality”, Fisher stated, adding: “however, the consumer attitude surveys we did showed that consumers were highly tolerant of recycled content...although it might not swing their purchasing decision they would certainly have a better opinion of the company that used it.”

This thought motivated Indesit’s involvement, as did the environmental side of things and, according to Fisher, it is possible that future washing machines will feature a yet higher proportion of recycled components.

“Washing machines already have a high content anyway because they are made with steel, which is highly recycled”, he commented.

“It's great buying recycled content but it would be nice if consumers knew they were buying it.”