THE Fixy van which visits repair cafés across Somerset to provide a mobile IT repair and re-use service has won an international environment award.

The Somerset Council-run partnership has received an International Green Apple Environment Award in recognition of its outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability and community engagement.

Fixy is managed by circular economy experts Resource Futures in partnership with the council and DonateIT.

It was selected from more than 700 global entries and honoured at a ceremony in the House of Lords on Monday (November 17).

The award celebrates Fixy’s innovative approach to one of the UK’s fastest-growing waste streams, electrical and electronic waste (WEEE).

Since hitting the road in 2022, Fixy has sparked more than 8,700 conversations with residents across Somerset and prevented more than 13,400 tonnes of electrical items ending up in landfill or incineration, giving them a second life through repair, refurbishment, and redistribution.

Fixy project co-ordinator Linda Hull said: “Winning a green apple award is a huge honour and a powerful endorsement of Fixy’s mission to empower communities to embrace electrical repair and reuse and make it accessible to everybody.

“It is a celebration of the communities we have worked with, our dedicated partners, and the thousands of devices we have saved from waste.”

Fixy was co-designed by Somerset Council, Resource Futures, and DonateIT, and is entirely grant funded.

Initial funding came from Ecosurety, followed by Material Focus’ Electricals Recycling Fund, and bridge funding provided by the council and its waste contractor SUEZ which has kept Fixy’s wheels in motion in between grants.

Funding since 2025 has come from the Hinkley Point C community fund and the National Lottery’s ‘Awards for All’.

Resource Futures communities lead Charlie Eddisford said: “This award energises us to keep expanding Fixy’s reach and impact across the UK.

“We are excited about the opportunities this recognition brings to deepen our impact on addressing the national e-waste challenge, especially the opportunity to work with forward-thinking funders and businesses who share our commitment to sustainability.”

Fixy has also supported the creation of three new repair groups, enabled electricals recycling trials in flatted properties, and helped bridge the digital divide by redistributing refurbished devices to those in digital poverty.

Its hands-on, community-first approach has helped drive a shift in public attitudes, with 68 per cent of people who engaged with the project saying they were more likely to buy refurbished or second-hand electrical items, and 83 per cent feeling committed to repairing their electricals rather than discarding them.

Research had shown only 33 per cent of people in the UK felt confident about how to recycle their electricals, while in Somerset, 71 per cent of Fixy participants had never before come across a repair group.

Fixy’s mobile nature is seen as a game-changer, bringing reuse and repair directly to rural and remote communities which are often left out of conventional sustainability initiatives.

Through tech amnesties, educational sessions, and public events, Fixy has helped demystify electrical repair and recycling, empowering people to make more sustainable choices.