01Dec

Over 50 businesses sign up to electrical sector action plan

Posted on 1st December, 2014

Sky, Panasonic and Samsung are among more than 50 businesses that have signed up to a sustainability action plan aimed at ‘revolutionising’ the electrical sector.

The Electrical and Electronic Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP) was launched by WRAP at its Resources Limited conference in London. The Plan will help organisations repair, reuse and recycle electrical products, working collaboratively across the product lifecycle.

WRAP conference

WRAP’s chief executive Dr Liz Goodwin said: “Today I can announce that we have 50 major players in that sector signed up to an agreement which will lead to testing targets. This is not just about reaping environmental benefits. It is about safeguarding businesses, making better use of resources.

“There are five themes to the work. Extending product durability building on WRAP’s better appliance guidance, minimising product returns, understanding and influencing consumer behaviour on product durability and reparability, implementing profitable, resilient and resource efficient business models and gaining greater value from re-use and recycling.”

The 50 ESAP signatories represent around 66% of the UK’s TV sales, and their actions will include implementing new business models such as take-back and resale, extending product durability, and, gaining’ greater value’ from reuse and recycling.

Trading in

WRAP adds that by trading in, consumers could get money for a product they no longer want, and businesses could generate greater loyalty by reaching out to customers who could not previously afford a particular brand.

Commenting on the announcement, a spokesperson for Sky said: “Our new partnership with WRAP will help us to drive even greater resource efficiencies across the whole product life cycle, with a particular focus on the reuse and recycling of our products. We look forward to collaborating both with WRAP and our fellow signatories.”

WasteCare was commissioned by Wrap to provide data and evaluate reuse within the electrical and electronic sectors. Peter Hunt, Chairman of the WasteCare Group commented, “It is important that all stakeholders work together in this complex area to ensure that electrical products are not only safely reused and recycled but that the circular economy works efficiently for the common good”.