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To promote the return of used electrical equipment to circulation, the electrical repair shop "Lab!" of the environmental management company Ltd. "Eco Baltia vide" was opened this year in Rumbula, near Riga. Evija Gorbunova, representative of Ltd. "Eco Baltia vide", will share her experience of opening this repair shop and how to promote the return of used electrical equipment to secondary circulation and why it is important at the conference "Creating Better, Using Longer - Waste as Resources in Latvia".

According to the data of the State Environmental Service, on average, about 30,000 tons of various electrical appliances are put on the Latvian market annually. Approximately 20,000 tons of used electrical equipment are collected each year, mostly televisions, washing machines and small electrical and electronic devices. Many of them have become unnecessary or are damaged for their owners, but with a little technical maintenance they could be given a second chance and their life cycle could be extended. However, the fate of 10,000 tons of electrical equipment is unknown. This means that these devices, for example, placed next to containers, as is often the case with large household appliances, are essentially already managed incorrectly and are in the environment.

It has been established that used electrical equipment is classified as hazardous waste, as it may contain substances that are dangerous to the environment and humans. Therefore, all types of used household and electrical appliances must not be disposed of with household waste, but must be handed over to a specialized waste management company.

Usually, collected electrical equipment is recycled to obtain various new materials. However, with the newly opened electrical repair shop "Lab!", a new approach is being implemented in the management of used electrical equipment - to separate from the collected equipment the amount that can be repaired and given a second life.

The main goal of the newly opened workshop "Lab!" is to give a second life to electrical equipment that can be repaired and returned to life, because repairing used electrical equipment is the best way to recycle it. By repairing equipment instead of producing new equipment, natural resources are significantly conserved and equipment is returned to circulation with less resource consumption. The second goal of the workshop is to reduce prejudice against used electrical equipment, to encourage society to use things sustainably and rationally, and to show that used can still be good. As surveys show, people are less likely to give a second chance to electrical equipment than to other goods, such as cars or clothes.

The workshop employs two experienced craftsmen who diagnose why the device does not work, evaluate what is needed to repair it, and carry out the repair. Sometimes the repair is very simple and equipment worth several hundred euros is repaired for a few tens of euros.

The new repair shop will receive electrical appliances that have been handed over by Ltd. "Eco Baltia vide" cooperation partners - various companies, as well as equipment that Latvian residents have delivered to collection points at the shopping center "Akropole Alfa" in Riga and the business center "Business Garden" in Mārupe.

The repaired equipment will be donated to charity and sold. They will be available for purchase on the website www.lietovelreiz.lv, however, next year Ltd. "Eco Baltia vide" will open a special store for used and repaired electrical equipment. Cooperation has also been started with several charity organizations, such as "Otrā elpa", "Tavi Draugi", Rehabilitation Center "Līgatne", "SOS Bērnu ciemats", to which the repaired electrical equipment will be donated.