Recycling the AO Way
AO Recycling’s materials might be the perfect solution if you’re looking to increase recycled content and improve sustainability within your products and supply chains.
Learn more about the story of AO Recycling below:
AO Recycling is one of the UK’s largest recyclers of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), processing thousands of appliances every day at its advanced recycling facility in Telford, Shropshire.
Types of appliance processed by the facility include fridges, washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers.
When AO sells a new appliance, the retailer often offers a service to take the customer’s old one away too.
Rather than allowing those products to become waste, AO Recycling gives unwanted appliances a second life through responsible recycling and material recovery.
Returned appliances that have reached the end of their life are dismantled and separated into their core materials, including plastics, metals and insulation foam.
Specialist processes are used to safely remove refrigerants, oils and gases from refrigeration units before the remaining materials are recovered for reuse in manufacturing applications.
AO Recycling’s state-of-the-art Telford facility is capable of processing more appliances, more efficiently, than any other site in the UK, helping recover valuable raw materials that would otherwise go to waste.
Recovered polymers from this process go on to be distributed by Plastribution.
Supporting a More Circular Plastics Industry
Every year, more than 3.5 million fridges are discarded in the UK.
AO Recycling processes over 700,000 fridges annually from its Telford operation alone. This is alongside large volumes of other domestic appliances.
Incredibly, the facility potentially produces enough recycled plastic to theoretically make 2.5 million new fridges annually!
Many recovered polymers from appliances are reprocessed into recycled pellets, compatable with injection moulding other processing methods.
These polymers are suitable for use in many new products and applications, helping manufacturers reduce reliance on virgin materials whilst supporting circular economy targets.
Some appliances entering the AO Recycling network are also refurbished and returned to the second-hand market, helping extend product life wherever possible before recycling becomes necessary.
By partnering with AO Recycling, Plastribution is helping make these recycled materials more accessible to processors and manufacturers across the UK & Irish plastics industries.
Coupled with our technical support and with several grades and polymer types available, Plastribution are on hand to guide you towards the best recycled option for your application.
Supporting a More Circular Plastics Industry
Sustainability targets are becoming increasingly important across manufacturing, but material performance and supply consistency remain just as critical. AO Recycling’s investment in advanced recycling technology helps ensure recovered materials are processed responsibly, efficiently and at scale.
At Plastribution, we understand that every application is different. This is why our commercial, technical and sustainability teams work closely with customers to help identify suitable recycled polymer solutions that meet both performance requirements and sustainability goals.
Whether you are looking to increase recycled content, explore alternative material options or discuss an upcoming project, we would be pleased to speak with you. We welcome conversations with manufacturers, moulders and processors looking to take practical steps towards more sustainable material solutions.