AO Recycles Five Million Appliances in First Five Years

Online electricals retailer AO is celebrating recycling over five million household appliances since it first opened its leading recycling facility five years ago. Based in Telford, AO Recycling opened its doors in Spring 2017 with the aim to safely recycle large domestic appliances, including fridges, washing machines, tumble driers, cookers and dishwashers.

The Shropshire plant is best known for responsibly disposing of fridges with its 80-tonne fridge crunching machine, Bertha, that safely collects any harmful gases released. However, a range of other appliances also receive the full ‘AO’ treatment once they arrive at the plant. As many appliances as possible are skilfully refurbished to be sold on via trade and outlet shops – over 200,000 appliances have received a new lease of life so far.  

In a recent survey from AO Recycling, a third (30%) of Brits admitted to having at least one washing machine they no longer use, with a huge 9% revealing they have three still in their home – which shows uncertainty about how to dispose of large appliances. AO currently offers a Collect & Recycle service, where both customers and the public can book to have their appliances collected and taken away to be responsibly recycled.

Almost 8 out of 10 people (79%) also revealed that if there was an easy way to recycle their old appliances via collection services, they would like to do this instead of keeping them. Services such as Collect and Recycle are crucial in reducing the number of fly-tipped appliances on the streets – something that skyrocketed during lockdown.

Robert Sant, MD of AO Recycling, said: “We’re so pleased to have saved a huge five million appliances from potentially being fly-tipped. While AO Recycling is best known for its innovative fridge recycling facilities, we also tackle a range of large appliances that arrive onsite. Our research shows that there is a growing desire for a simple collection service for our unwanted appliances and we hope to continue recycling as many appliances as possible via our recycling services.”

To find out more about the Collect and Recycle service, visit: https://ao.com/help-and-advice/delivery-and-services/collect-and-recycle

About AO:

AO World plc, headquartered in Bolton and listed on the London Stock Exchange, is an online electrical retailer, with a mission to be the global destination for electricals. Our strategy is to create value by focussing on being brilliant for our customers to make AO the destination for everything they need, in the simplest and easiest way, when buying electricals.

We sell major and small domestic appliances and a growing range of electrical products in the UK and Germany, delivering them via our in-house logistics business and carefully selected third parties. We also provide ancillary services such as the installation of new and collection of old products and offer product protection plans and customer finance.

In the UK, AO operates in five main categories (Major Domestic Appliances "MDA", Small Domestic Appliances "SDA", Audio Visual "AV" and Consumer Electronics "CE").  Following the acquisition of Mobile Phones Direct Limited in December 2018, AO has significantly broadened its mobile phone category.

AO Business serves the B2B market in the UK, providing electricals and installation services at scale.

AO launched in Germany in October 2014 with MDA and now sells Floorcare, AV and SDA categories.

AO also has a majority equity stake in AO Recycling, a WEEE processing facility, allowing AO to ensure its customers' electricals waste is dealt with responsibly in the UK.

AO, is green in more ways than one. Find out more about its sustainability initiatives here: https://ao.com/sustainability.