HBH Woolacotts has teamed up with a Plymouth social enterprise to recycle electrical goods as the South West retailer steps up its efforts to protect the environment.
The Bude-based company, which has nine stores throughout Devon and Cornwall, has linked with Collectrical CIC, a not-for-profit organisation which reuses white goods, computers, laptops and other electrical items.
Family-run has made an active effort to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly, from the partners it works with to the processes it employs, and has dramatically reduced its impact on the environment and is looking to improve further.
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Directors looked at the disposal of appliances, previously being taken to scrap merchants, and got in touch with Collectrical.
Chris Hemmerle, director of HBH Woolacotts, said: “The packaging, products and appliances were becoming a real problem. We had been working on a small scale in Liskeard with Plymouth-based social enterprise Collectrical CIC to remove and upcycle our old appliances.
“Our main contractor was experiencing issues and Collectrical approached us about having the opportunity to service our whole business.
“Having always provided a reliable service and knowing the positive impact they have on local communities we took the leap of faith with Collectrical in 2016 and have never looked back.”
Collectrical CIC was founded in 2013 with the goal of reducing the social impact of waste electrical products and ultimately collecting, reusing, recycling and donating products.
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Founders Alex and Sonia Hosking now process all of HBH Woolacotts old appliances with as many as possible being fixed, made good, and then donated to families that need them.
Collectricals commitment is not to send anything to landfill and products that cannot be upcycled and reused are broken down with the parts and components sold on and the scrap metal sold on to refineries and recycling plants.
Since the pandemic Collectrical has also been involved in the Make a Difference campaign and works to upcycle and refurbish laptops to donate to children from low-income households for home schooling and education.
Mr Hemmerle said “Collectrical are an exceptional organisation and we’re proud to work with them. Not only does it mean that the communities we work in benefit from their work and the donations, but it’s also great to know that products that we used to call ‘waste’ are of value and are being utilised in the best possible way”.
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HBH Woolacotts is taking other measures to be eco-friendly and Mr Hemmerle said: “We have grown significantly as a business in the last 10 years and as we did waste packaging and appliances became a real issue, both in terms of sheer volume and the cost to dispose.
“From an environmental perspective it was also disappointing to see such large volumes of product packaging and waste go to scrap or landfill. As a business we had a responsibility to improve what we were doing”.
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The first stage was to look at the waste packaging the business was generating and Mr Hemmerle said: “Unfortunately it’s a fact that a lot of the products we sell come heavily packaged to ensure safe transport and minimise damage. We were generating around four shipping containers full of packaging waste each week which was a huge issue.
“In 2013 we invested in a polystyrene bailer and a cardboard bailer at an approximate cost of £25,000 for the two. This meant that our weekly packaging waste reduced down to no more than five or six pallets of bailed packaging. The bails were of recyclable quality and are collected weekly by a local recycling business.”
This has been such a success that the company has just invested in another extra-large cardboard bailer and it now has three separate machines for cardboard, polystyrene and plastic. All waste packaging from the whole business is now processed at their main depot into recyclable bales.
HBH Woolacotts aims to continually improve the business to make it more sustainable and Mr Hemmerle said: “We’re always looking at ways to improve, when we relocated in Plymouth we invested in solar panels to reduce our carbon footprint. While not every site is suited to solar panels we’re currently working towards having them at a few of our other sites with the aim of the having these largely self-sufficient. We’re also investing in improved technologies and paperless systems throughout the business.”