Belgium/Recupel repairs or recycles your unused household appliances with its coffee shop tour

After Saint-Trond and Uccle, a Café Recupel will be opening in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (Place des Maïeurs) on March 29 & 30. The aim is still the same: to repair or recycle as many household appliances as possible, and do something for the planet.

According to estimates, the average Belgian household has 10 unused appliances and lamps. In total, this represents 50 million appliances for the whole of Belgium. Yet these appliances could very well have a second life after repair, reuse or recycling. According to Recupel, on average, 90% of the materials can be recovered after recycling.

For this reason, the association is hitting the road again to meet the residents of six Belgian towns. In concrete terms, you come along with your household appliances. If your appliances are faulty, they are examined free of charge and repaired on site if possible. If they can't be repaired, they're sent to one of Recupel's recyclers. And if you don't want them any more, they go to a partner reuse center.

" We want to raise awareness of the importance of repairs, reuse and recycling in a fun way. Today's appliances contain tomorrow's raw materials. The more we reuse the raw materials from our appliances, the less we'll have to resort to conventional, polluting mining," explains Eric Dewaet, CEO of Recupel.

You can bring in any device that has an electrical cable or runs on a battery. This includes earphones, charger cables, vaporizers, bicycle lights, remote controls and computer mice. According to a survey carried out by Recupel, almost half of Belgians throw these small devices away with their household waste.

"These devices are often "invisible". They don't take up much space, so they often end up in a drawer or cupboard, and are all too often thrown away with the household garbage during a major tidying-up operation. This is bad for the environment and particularly regrettable, because even our smallest appliances are full of precious raw materials," explains Eric Dewaet.

In exchange for your contribution, you'll receive a drink or a snack. If you can't make it to the meeting point, you can also hire a bike courier. He will collect your appliances directly from your home, by appointment. After Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Café Recupel will visit Mouscron (April 13 & 14), then Lokeren (April 19 & 20) and Lier (May 3 & 4) in Flanders.

In addition to these cafés, Recupel offers other ways to collect your lamps and electronics: recycling centers, recycling parks andrecycling points in supermarkets. You can find all the collection points on the Recupel website.

Source: www.rtbf.be/