"The Princess Royal’s visit will further help to raise REVAMP’s profile in the community, and we hope to continue bridging relationships with local businesses to divert unwanted electronic waste"
Julian Williams, the Project’s Director at REVAMP
Bristol, England: REVAMP, the Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) re-use and recycling subsidiary of the SOFA Project, received a royal visit by HRH Princess Royal last Tuesday to commend the work carried out in Bristol and across the West of England.
The organisation was set up to provide assistance to the local authorities, residential and business communities to meet the demands of new legislation on Landfill Reduction Targets and WEEE.
Based in St Phillips, the depot sorts electrical items (fridges, freezers, fridge/freezers, washing machines, cookers microwaves etc.) which have been sourced from local businesses, community donors, organisations like Center Parcs, and manufacturers like Baumatic into items that can be diverted for re-use through sale in the SOFA Project shop, and those to be sent on for dismantling and recycling.
The Princess Royal was welcomed by HM Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Mrs Mary Prior and SOFA Project Chair Colin Evans and shown through the Domestic Appliance Workshop where she witnessed the repairs and safety testing in progress, before meeting members of staff.
The Princess Royal visiting REVAMP last week
SOFA says that 40,000 fridges are discarded each week in the UK of which 1,000 could be refurbished and re-used.
“The Princess Royal’s visit will further help to raise REVAMP’s profile in the community, and we hope to continue bridging relationships with local businesses to divert unwanted electronic waste at the same time as providing the community with working, affordable domestic appliance solutions” says Julian Williams, the Project’s Director”.
Mr Williams continued:
“Operations started slowly in January 2006, after the delay of the EU WEEE Directive implementation, which caused significant financial difficulty for SOFA. But we are pleased that the business has developed steadily throughout 2007 and is now a very busy place”.
Further information
Further information on WEEE can be found at
http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/weee/page30269.html .
REVAMP is now engaged in:
- Collecting TVs for onward movement to recycling plants
- Refurbishing domestic appliances sources from manufacturers, retailers and households
- Receiving waste refrigeration, and IT equipment from local businesses
- Assisting major retailers to find markets for ‘graded goods’
- Preparing a steady supply of electrical goods for sale through SOFA Project.
More information on REVAMP can be found at www.pulltheplug.co.uk