WEEE Nurture

Hidden away in a unit in Newport’s city centre commercial estate, E-Inclusion is a no-frills operation. The Social Enterprise was founded in 2006 by Julie Traynor who wanted to demonstrate that waste computers could be used as a tool to transform people’s lives and regenerate communities. It now operates with just two full-time members of staff, E-Inclusion Manager Mary Rudge, and Electronics Manager Gareth Clabon, the business is separated into different working stations for admin, training and refurbishing, but all its staff effectively work in the same room. This creates a sense of unity even when there are only a handful of workers present, as is the case when I visit. 

Currently, E-Inclusion refurbishes WEEE collected from local authorities, local companies and other organisations, to be reused by the local community. In 2011 , 8.9 tonnes of WEEE were reused through E-Inclusion, but an estimated 14.5 tonnes were diverted from landfill thanks to the enterprise’s work. The day I visit, there are 200 desktop computers in the unit that had all been collected from the council the previous week.

E-Inclusion handles the entire refurbishing process from start to finish. After collecting the electrical waste, staff bring it back to the unit where its details are logged and the data is destroyed to HMG Infosec 5 Enhanced Standard. If the equipment is good enough for resale, it will be refurbished; otherwise it can be used for spares or, as a last resort, recycled. The enterprise sells the computer units commercially as well as offering a number of computers free to disadvantaged members of the community. Community groups get a discounted price but the basic rates are low regardless, available to anybody who walks through the door.

The process does not end with computer refurbishment. E-Inclusion has several social programmes that show people how to utilise the electrical equipment to their best advantage. The longest-running programme to date has been a five-year collaboration with Newport Housing Trust. Eight residents are selected each year by the Trust for computer training. They come together as a group at E-Inclusion’s facility, where the participants have the chance to socialise as well as learn how to use computer technology. Many of these residents live solitary lives, and E-Inclusion gives them a chance to build new friendships.

The E-Inclusion staff visit the clients in their own homes to give one to one training, teaching them to put computers to practical use by learning basic computer skills, accessing the Internet, using email and Skype and shopping online, which assists those with mobility issues. The positive effects for participants can be life changing.

E-Inclusion runs another similar programme along with The Lighthouse Project, a programme run by the council, and Taff Housing Association, which provides low-level housing-related support to eligible citizens – often victims of domestic abuse, or individuals with drug or alcohol addiction, though a wide range of people qualify. Ten Lighthouse Project clients are selected per year to participate in the E-Inclusion programme that not only provides technical support, but, more importantly, a chance to socially interact and to rebuild self-esteem.  E-Inclusion also provides one-day trainings such as ‘Build Your Own Computer’ and ‘Intergenerational Programme’. As Rudge explains: “We recycle computers, but we regenerate lives.”

It’s clear that E-Inclusion’s social inclusion programmes are at its heart. Its staff and trustees are aware that the more E-Inclusion grows, the more people they will be able to help. In July 2012, E-Inclusion strengthened its business model by joining forces with Wastesavers, Newport’s community recycling group that runs the kerbside recycling service in partnership with the city council. As part of the Wastesavers group, E-Inclusion will benefit from the 27 years experience Wastesavers have in reuse and recycling operations and together the groups will better serve the needs of local businesses looking for a complete recycling solution whilst enabling both Wastesavers and E-Inclusion to build on their success working in the community with volunteers and placements, and those regarded as socially excluded.

Keen to expand further into recycling (and so prevent unusable computers from going for scrap), the company will be using the recently awarded Santander funding to help in its transition to a fully-fledged recycling facility. The £15,000 award has been earmarked to set up the recycling operation and employ a recycling manager. In December, E-Inclusion began a ‘Learning Disability Employability Programme’ to work with eight adults over a period of twelve months, sourced by Access Supported Employment, Newport (which will be working closely alongside the new programme). Their roles include dismantling and sorting electrical equipment, preparing WEEE for reuse or recycling, as well as administrative tasks.

For Rudge, these programmes have an extremely personal significance. She began her career at E-Inclusion on an employability programme, referred by a local disability employment advisor to St Loyes Foundation, which engages E-Inclusion as an external contractor. Rudge explains that, having left her previous career in finance, she was in need of help: “I had suffered health problems, I had a nervous breakdown, and I couldn’t work. I hadn’t worked for years.” But the specialised employability programme at E-Inclusion rebuilt her workplace confidence to such an extent that she was appointed as the manager of the social enterprise in February 2012, having been involved with the company for just eight months. In her eyes this achievement sums up the potential of E-Inclusion, which focuses on social inclusion and entrepreneurial skills simultaneously.

Rudge explains: “I’m enthused to be part of E-Inclusion because of the social element – I have witnessed at first hand the impact that can be made by taking something that had been regarded by its first user as obsolete and using it as a tool to transform peoples’ lives. It’s turned my life around. I’m 59 next month, and I’m starting something completely different. I’m energised by it.”

E-Inclusion’s business model has helped it get where it is today. Traynor explains that E-Inclusion trains its staff to be social entrepreneurs, making the programmes financially sustainable, in contrast to some parts of the community sector that are heavily reliant on grants. .

By joining the Wastesavers group, however, E-Inclusion is not relinquishing its own aims; as Rudge explains: “The identity of E-Inclusion and the ethos behind it has to remain. And Wastesavers doesn’t want to change that. As a team we are looking forward to expanding our recycling and social programmes, which by becoming part of Wastesavers Charitable Trust we will be able to achieve. Wastesavers has the same objectives and ambitions as us, so it made sense to come together and we are really excited about the opportunities it will bring.”