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AO.com begins council ‘mobile fridge’ collections

AO.com begins council ‘mobile fridge’ collections
AO Recycling operates a major fridge recycling facility near Telford

Online electrical retailer AO.com has begun to offer services to local authorities for the collection and recycling of ‘mobile fridges’ – typically from hotel rooms and caravans – as part of a bid to “cut stockpiles across the UK”.

The move comes after the announcement earlier this month that it has expanded its fridge recycling facility in Telford to be able to process absorption fridges, which are often found in caravans, boats, and hotel rooms (see letsrecycle.com story)

The news comes after the fridge recycling facility was extended earlier this month to process mobile fridges

According to the retailer, a lack of the facilities to process the fridges correctly has seen many stockpiled around the UK or exported to the continent for processing.

The retailer says it is now offering to collect and recycle the absorption fridges at a “discounted rate” from local authority recycling sites using its UK-wide logistics service.

The AO Telford plant can degass and recycle an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 absorption fridges every year.

AO.com says the plant ensures that absorption fridges are recycled in the “safest and most environmentally friendly way” by removing the ammonia, a process known as degassing.

They are then recycled alongside domestic fridges collected from AO customers.

LARAC Conference

Commenting on the announcement, AO Recycling director Anthony Sant, said the move was important due to a lack of the fridges being processed domestically, and acted on feedback picked up from the recent LARAC Conference, which was organised by letsrecycle.com.

“From the published returns for recycled fridges it is clear that very few ammonia fridges are actually being processed in the UK,” he explained.

Mr Sant added: “We recently attended the LARAC Conference and the overwhelming feedback from authorities was that they welcomed the ability to recycle their ammonia fridges in the UK. We decided to offer a collection and recycling service to local authorities for dealing with the thousands of ammonia fridges we know need recycling in the UK.”

Mr Sant continued to say that the company can benefit from its UK-wide logistics service to help collect the material.

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