The Yorkshire-based scheme, which is supported by Kinston-Upon-Hull city council, hopes to process 156 tonnes of electrical equipment this year. Recycling mostly IT equipment from offices, Refurbit provides training in warehouse management and IT repair.
Shawn Nicholson, manager of Refurbit, said: “We found the accreditation quite a positive process, since the audit helped us set upon improving some of the areas where we were unsure how to proceed. The auditor was very good at providing advice.”
Under the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, due to be implemented in the UK by August 2004, companies wishing to handle and treat or refurbish separately collected WEEE must become an approved treatment facilities (ATFs).
By undergoing the ICER accreditation, IT refurbishment companies are putting in place measures that could lead to ATF status once the government lays down the new regulations next year.
Claire Snow, director of ICER, said: “As the WEEE Directive is transposed into UK legislation over the next 12 months, it will be extremely valuable for community sector organisations to have the opportunity to become accredited under the ICER Accreditation Scheme, to demonstrate the sector’s competence in handling this important waste stream.”
Support
Refurbit is part of the Regional Electronics Initiative (REI) project, supported by the environmental consultancy, Save Waste and Prosper (SWAP).
SWAP environmental consultant, David Middlemas said: “SWAP is delighted that the first community sector organisation has met the requirements of ICER accreditation. We hope that our work with ICER will pave the way for other community organisations to become accredited WEEE treatment facilities.”
REI is a network of computer refurbishment centres in the Yorkshire and Humber region. In the past 18 months, REI centres diverted around 1,000 tonnes of waste IT equipment from landfill.
Mr Nicholson praised the support offered by SWAP during the accreditation process. “There was a lot of work involved but we have been doing this since 1999 so a lot of the processes were already in place. But there were some areas that needed setting up or improving. We used the handbook produced by SWAP for the REI centres and self-assessed ourselves so we could set targets for the changes. By the time the auditor came we knew exactly where we were.”
Subscribe for free