World Class Facilities
AO Recycling was set up to carry out the large-scale recycling of fridges and domestic appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers, sometimes known as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment).
We’ll make sure your old machines are recycled to all environmental and waste management regulations
The Process
End-to-end recycling, closed loop, extracting value from waste – it’s what we do at AO Recycling. Here’s how we recycle fridges – which we believe is one of the safest, cleanest and most efficient processes in the UK…
Step 1
The refrigerant and oil inside the motor are carefully removed. To do this, we manually drill into the fridge’s internal workings to drain everything away.
Step 2
The motor is removed using giant, heavy-duty cutters and sent away for recycling.
Step 3
The rest of the fridge is then sent into a sealed chamber to extract the gases in the fridges’ insulation foam. To do this, oxygen is removed and replaced with nitrogen to prevent anything igniting.
Step 4
The fridge is then dropped inside a massive shredder, where heavy duty steel chains spin around like a kitchen blender. This motion forms a vortex that breaks the outer shell of the fridge into smaller pieces. The insulation foam is smashed into powder to release more of the gases.
Step 5
The rest of the fridge remains are dropped onto a heated conveyor belt below. The heat, again, helps to release and neutralise any leftover gases.
Step 6
Nitrogen is used to condense the gases into liquid so they can be safely sent away for disposal elsewhere.
Step 7
What’s left of the fridges’ remains is sent through four different filtration systems, to separate the different materials from each other.
Step 8
Plastics, metals and foam are sorted into individual storage containers. These are then shipped on to be recycled into other products, maybe even another fridge.
Why We Care
Wherever possible, machines are repaired and refurbished for resale. Nothing is wasted. Safe, responsible, sustainable – it’s what we do.
WEEE Recycling
AO Recycling was set up to carry out the large scale recycling of fridges and domestic appliances such as washing machines, tumble driers and dishwashers, sometimes known as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment).