Fifty electrical companies have pledged to reduce the environmental impacts of electrical products through an initiative run by the waste body Wrap.
Signatories to the initiative, known as the Electrical and Electronic Sustainability Action Plan (Esap), include manufacturers, retailers and waste companies.
B&Q, Dell, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Samsung, Sky and Veolia are among those who have agreed to work collaboratively across the product lifecycle.
They plan to implement new business models, such as: take-back and resale; extending product durability through design and customer information; influencing customer behaviour on product durability and reparability; and gaining greater value from re-use and recycle.
Wrap calculates that the annual UK market value for trading pre-owned electrical equipment is worth up to £3 billion. Encouraging the trade-in of used television could, for example, increase UK GDP by more than £750 million a year by 2020, it estimates. Esap signatories account for 66% of the UK's TV sales, so this model could become a reality, Wrap believes.
Dr Liz Goodwin, chief executive at WRAP, said: "I am delighted with the take up of Esap from the electricals industry, which has the potential to revolutionise how we design, manufacture, sell, repair, re-use, and recycle electrical and electronic products.
"By making better use of resources, businesses can better safeguard their future through creating new opportunities for economic and environmental benefits, whilst saving consumers money," she said.
