Letting go of electrical appliances - but how?
Letting go of electrical appliances - but how?
It is not so easy to know what is best for an electrical appliance and the environment.
The Circular Platform offers consumers independent information on the sustainable use of electrical appliances and shows in simple steps where unused electrical appliances can be resold, repaired or disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.
In Swiss households, there are often several electrical appliances lying around useless or broken. Current figures from the WEEE Forum suggest that the average European household has around 13 appliances that are no longer needed, 4 of which are defective. The reasons why Swiss people hoard such devices instead of selling them on, repairing them or disposing of them are manifold: Some hope that in the distant future the granddaughter will fetch the talking doll from the attic again or the son will wear his father's great sports watch. Others simply cannot find the time to take a defective toothbrush or a broken toaster to the nearest collection point. What is forgotten is that every electrical appliance - whether small or large - contains valuable raw materials such as iron, copper, aluminium or gold. By storing the appliances, these valuable materials are kept out of the cycle or are completely lost when they are disposed of improperly or in an environmentally harmful way in household waste.
New Circular Platform as a decision-making aid
It is not always easy to decide whether repairing a broken appliance is still worthwhile or whether reselling the appliance would pay off. That is why we have launched the Circular Platform for electronic and electrical appliances. With just a few details about the device, the brand, its condition and age, users can find out on the platform what is currently the most sustainable solution for their device. If the device can be reused, the platform immediately makes suggestions as to which online providers the device can be resold with and at what average price. If, on the other hand, a device is defective, the Circular Platform shows users where they can have it repaired or have it recycled. Important: Only official companies of the respective manufacturers are listed as repair centres. This is the only way to ensure correct handling and compliance with the guarantees.
The Circular Platform is currently only available in German. It will be available in other languages at a later date.
More than just a decision-making tool: the Circular Platform is also an information platform
Consumers can also find helpful tips on how to deal with electrical appliances at home on the Circular Platform, as well as up-to-date information on the subject of the circular economy. With the Circular Platform, we want to give consumers a practical tool with which they can find the best solution for their old appliance in simple steps. And not only for themselves, but also for the environment. At the same time, the platform is also intended to raise public awareness of the circular economy and to show consumers how they can use their appliances in a resource-saving way.
From a throwaway society to a sustainable consumption society
In contrast to the linear economy, where raw materials are only used once and then disposed of, the circular economy aims at sustainable production, distribution and consumption. Raw materials and products should be used for as long as possible and waste should be reduced to a minimum. For us consumers, this means that we should consider before making a purchase whether it might be better to rent an appliance or borrow it from a neighbour instead of buying our own. Electrical appliances that are in good condition can be sold on or given to friends or aid organisations if we no longer need them ourselves. We should also always consider repairing them before disposing of them. When a device has finally reached the end of its life, it is important that we dispose of it properly so that the materials used in it can be recycled and returned to the cycle as secondary raw materials. There they can be reused for new appliances. With this behaviour, we not only reduce waste and save energy and costs, but also CO2. It has long been proven that recycling causes significantly less CO2 than the extraction and use of primary raw materials.
The Circular Platform is currently only available in German. It will be available in other languages at a later date.