Free electrical repair café planned for Laois

A POP-UP electrical repair shop café is planned for Laois this summer, as part of the ongoing battle against illegal dumping.

Laois Co Council has applied for funding to open a free repair shop café for small electric appliances, which would run alongside the regular mattress and bulky waste amnesty.

Community repair shop cafés have run successfully in other counties and focus on repairing household items, including small electrical appliances such as kettles and hairdryers, rather than throwing them away.

People can bring along broken items to be repaired by skilled volunteers free of charge. The main goal is to promote sustainability by encouraging people to repair and reuse items instead of discarding them.

A mattress amnesty set up by the council at Portlaoise Rugby Club last year took in almost 1,000 old mattresses and beds free of charge, all destined for recycling.

The council’s environment section hopes to expand the project this year by running an ecofriendly repair shop café for electrical items, which are often discarded.

Details were outlined at the council’s latest monthly meeting by senior executive officer Georgina Ireland, who said: “We have made an application for funding. Included is a repair shop café for small electric appliances and a mattress and bulky waste amnesty.” 

Ms Ireland said the events will go ahead in late June or early July, with further details provided once dates are confirmed.