Average weights for reuse updated

The Furniture Re-use Network (FRN) – which is the umbrella body for community furniture reuse groups – will launch a revised list of average weights for reuse items ranging from televisions to beds at its annual conference in Cheshire, following research funded by WRAP.

The list is significant because the weights are used to calculate the volume of appliances councils and social enterprises handle, which impacts upon the number of recycling credits they can claim back for diverting them from landfill. Click here for The FRN average weights list.

The weights replace a previous list, which was updated and re-organised to make it more accurate and easier to use, with weights for items such as grandfather clocks increasing and weights for other items, such as a king-size bed, falling. Notably, there is also a separate section for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

Paul Smith, chief executive of the FRN, said: “These weights are a practical mechanism for counting the environmental benefit of furniture and domestic appliance re-use. It would be beyond the ability of organisations to weigh every item they sell or donate and we are pleased that WRAP has invested in updating the data.”

“The new weights do not show a large difference from the previous figures, indeed we would be shocked if they did, however they do show a wider range of goods to reflect the growing variety of donations projects are receiving,” he added.

Guidance

New guidance on the recycling credit scheme was issued in April 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story), which outlined that community groups specialising in the reuse of waste items like furniture and electronics could be rewarded financially by waste disposal authorities for keeping items out of landfill.

The document explained that waste collection authorities could also make arrangements with waste disposal authorities to reward them for collecting material to be reused or recycled.

Phillip Ward, director for local government services at WRAP, said: “We now have a set of well researched, authoritative and current weights for use when handling bulky waste materials.”

“This will benefit both local authorities and providers of bulky waste services, giving them a reliable way to account for volumes of goods handled and re-used and also a basis for calculating the carbon savings when doing so,” he added.

The list of weights is only applicable to household items regarded as ‘waste' – which includes compost – and the resale of second-hand books and textiles and the use of returnable or refillable bottles or containers are not eligible for recycling credits.

The full list will be available on the FRN website from Monday (January 12).