Fixy recognised at Recycling and Waste Management Excellence awards
17 May 2024
Resource Future’s mobile reuse initiative Fixy – run in partnership with Somerset Council and Donate IT – was recently named on the shortlist for the Reuse Initiative of the Year at the 2024 Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management.
Fixy seeks to directly tackle a national e-waste problem at a regional level, with its bright blue van supporting residents across Somerset in repairing and reusing their broken electrical items.
The project offers a unique, locally-focused solution for dealing with one of the UK’s most pressing sustainability challenges: the country is currently the second highest e-waste producer per capita globally, with more than 20 million unused but working electrical items currently being hoarded in homes.
During Fixy’s pilot phase (which concluded in March 2023), 83% of people surveyed said they felt ‘very or quite committed’ to repair activities going forwards having engaged with the initiative.
Acknowledging innovation
The Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management are run by letsrecycle.com and recognise pioneering approaches and impactful outcomes in the recycling and waste sector.
Fixy faced formidable competition for the Excellence award: other finalists included the University of Manchester’s ‘Furniture4Reuse’ scheme, a SUEZ initiative to recirculate thousands of discarded mobility items, and eventual winner ‘School Uniform Swap Shop’ by North West Leicestershire District Council.
““To have been shortlisted for the ‘Reuse Initiative of the year’ Award among such strong competition highlights the significant impact the Fixy Pilot has had tackling a national e-waste problem at a regional level.
Not only do we understand the problem of e-waste, we’re putting projects in place that actively add value to local communities while bringing about a more circular waste stream. Our community impact projects such as Fixy are what set us apart and it’s fantastic to have their positive collective influence recognised.”
Sam Reeves, CEO of Resource Futures
“We are very proud of the impact Fixy has had in Somerset and we are excited to see this expanding to wider areas as the project continues to progress. Fixy is helping Somerset become greener and more sustainable one repair at a time.”
Councillor Dixie Darch, Executive member for Environment and Climate at Somerset Council
Key Fixy achievements to date have included:
- Attending over 80 events and engaging over 2,800 Somerset residents in conversations about repair and reuse of electricals.
- Receiving donations of 3,717 kg of smart tech items for reuse via the Fixy van and at ‘tech amnesty’ events.
- Supporting people in digital poverty by working with local community interest company Donate IT to refurbish and rehome collected smart tech items.
- Raising awareness of repair groups operating around the county and inspiring the set up of three new repair groups.
You can find more information about Fixy’s work and the intiative’s future events by visiting the website.
