More hope for fridge recycling

German based MeWa Recycling Maschinen und Anlagenbau GmbH has sold four recycling plants to UK scrap recyclers SimsMetal and EMR, which, once set up, will be able to process 1-1.5 million fridges per year, Karsten Mennerich of MeWa told edie. The UK currently disposes of 2.5 million fridges and freezers per year.

The first two units will open in June and July, each able to process 300,000 units per year, at a rate of 50-70 per hour, said Mennerich. MeWa’s process is able to achieve an unusually high CFC/pentane recovery rate of nearly 100%, says the company.

There is further good news in Scotland, where Remploy, formerly known as the Disabled Person Employment Corporation Ltd – set up in response to the 1944 Disabled Persons Act, has announced that it has started a new partnership with South Lanarkshire Council for the development of Scotland’s first outlet for the recycling and disposal of fridges and freezers. The unit, which is based at the organisation’s new factory just outside Glasgow, hopes to receive their first consignment within the next two weeks, although a Remploy spokesman told edie that it is not yet known how many units the facility will be able to process per year.

“Remploy are to be commended for recognising the implications of the changes in legislation and doing something about them,” said Andrew Welsh MSP for Angus.