Material Focus reopens its Electricals Recycling Fund to support community collections
The non-profit has allocated an additional £750,000 to help organisations tackle e-waste, from local authorities to private businesses.
Originally launched in September 2023, the Electricals Recycling Fund has so far diverted 63.57 tonnes of ‘wired waste’ from landfill. Repair events and donation projects have been launched, and some 228 new recycling locations have been established, with a total reach of 7,431,897 people.
This latest funding round opened late-April, and is open to councils, businesses, community organisations and other groups. Full criteria and details for applications can be found here, and while there is no deadline in place successful candidates should expect to hear back within three months of submission. Two types of projects are being prioritised for funding – those seeking to increase or develop existing household collection services for small electricals, and those seeking new collection methods.
Currently, the average UK home is ‘hiding’ 31 unused, damaged or broken electrical items, bringing the nationwide total to 880million individual devices. An additional 103,000 tonnes are thrown away each year, despite much of this waste being suitable for repair or donation.
‘This additional funding is a testament to the success of the projects so far and shows the commitment to tackling e-waste in the UK. We are excited to continue expanding our efforts and making electricals reuse and recycling easier for more people across the UK,’ said Scott Butler, Executive Director at Material Focus.
‘Since October we have held 10 Repair Cafés and repaired 97 items, We have also supported two volunteer led repair Cafes and are in the process of setting up a further two,’ added Kieran O’Leary, Policy Officer at Durham County Council. ‘The benefits of HypnoCat and Material Focus’ excellent marketing is hugely beneficial for any project – be it a new one or an existing one. We already had a collection network but this project has allowed us to expand and raise awareness through useful assets including HypnoCat.’
More on recycling:
Essex County Council permanently rolls out recycling centre bookings
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