Today enfinium, a leading UK energy-from-waste operator, has awarded over £4,000 to five Repair Cafés near its Parc Adfer facility in Deeside, North Wales, as part of the company’s efforts to reduce waste and support the Welsh Government’s ambition to achieve a zero-waste economy by 2050.
The five Cafés receiving the funding are the Flint Town Hall Repair Café, Mold Repair Café, the St Mary Upton Village Repair Café, the Bagillt Community Library Repair Café, and the Buckley Repair Café, all located across Flintshire and Merseyside within 30 miles of enfinium’s Parc Adfer facility. This latest announcement follows enfinium’s grant funding awarded to the North Wales-based Ruthin Repair Café in May earlier this year.
Through the work of the Repair Cafés, local communities can repair household items, creating a positive impact on the environment while saving money. The most common repairs included electronics, such as radios, hair dryers and stereos, and sewing repairs.
The grant funding will enable the five Repair Cafés to invest in resources such as tools, equipment and training materials. Also, the funding will contribute towards upskilling the repair volunteers, funding attendance on courses on PAT testing for electronics, and tool sharpening which widens the range of repairs available. St Mary Upton Village Repair Café also plans to host a new trial initiative for young people to gain a ‘hands on’ experience of electronic repair, encouraging reuse rather than waste in the community.
Repairing items reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and cuts overall CO2 emissions. For example, maintaining a single television for an additional 7 years has been found to save the equivalent of 657kg CO2.1
To date, 12 Repair Cafés have received funding from enfinium’s ‘Repair Café Support Fund’ of £60,000 over a three year-period since its launch in March 2024. The Fund was set up to support cafés within a 30-mile radius of one of enfinium’s facilities in Kent, North Wales, West Yorkshire or the West Midlands.
enfinium’s Repair Café Support Fund will reopen on 1 January 2025 and run until 31 May 2025. Eligible Repair Cafés can apply for funding of up to £1,500 per annum before the May 2025 deadline.
If you would like to learn more about the Repair Cafés Support Fund, or apply for funding, please visit the project website Repair Café or email [email protected].
Philip Curds, Head of ESG & Sustainability at enfinium, said: “The UK must reduce the amount of waste it produces if we are to achieve a circular economy. Repair Cafés play a vital role in this, helping local communities reduce waste while simultaneously avoiding the cost of unnecessarily replacing household items. We are delighted to support the work of these five Repair Cafés which reduce overall carbon emissions and limit the amount of waste sent to climate-damaging landfill”.
Lesley Wood of Flint Town Hall Repair Café, said: “We’re delighted to have received funding from enfinium’s Repair Café Support Fund, which will allow us to further help our community repair their possessions. This support will enable us to fix even more items, helping people save money while encouraging a more sustainable lifestyle. Our café is about much more than just repairs – it’s about bringing people together to share skills, reduce waste, and make positive, lasting changes in how we approach everyday items. This funding means we can make an even bigger impact at a time when sustainable choices are more important than ever.”
