Fixy pilot scheme - an electricals repair and reuse success story

More than 900 items of smart tech were collected through tech amnesties, and many have already been passed on to school children, refugees, and elderly or isolated people, providing much-needed resources to those who could not afford to buy them and addressing digital poverty by diverting Electric and Electronic Equipment (EEE) away from the waste stream and back into the community.

Insights from a survey conducted by Resource Futures at the end of the year have revealed that over half those surveyed said that Fixy had helped them understand more about the importance of repair and reuse: 96% said they were more likely to get a broken electrical item repaired since encountering Fixy and over 70% said they are now more likely to buy refurbished or second-hand electrical items, rather than new. The results demonstrate the positive impact, reach, and potential of Fixy and projects like it.

A blueprint for the future

The successful rollout of Fixy will be documented and adapted into a blueprint of best practice and learnings. The blueprint will be made available in 2023 to local authorities across the UK for them to adapt and implement in communities with limited access to EEE reuse and repair facilities.

Sarah Hargreaves, Behaviour Change lead at Resource Futures, said: “A key element to this pilot project is that we wanted it to be replicable and scalable for other councils up and down the country to adopt similar projects.

“Fixy has shown that despite the scale of the challenge it is possible to change people’s awareness and perceptions. It’s fantastic to hear people say that Fixy has made them feel better informed about where and how they can get things repaired, and we hope other regions can benefit from the findings from this pilot work through our blueprint.”

Ecosurety Exploration Fund

The first phase of the Fixy project was successfully executed with support from the Ecosurety Exploration Fund. Launched in 2019, the Fund invested £1million in projects that could reduce the environmental impact of packaging, batteries or EEE through innovation or research in the UK.