Elcare Nordic, which is owned by the Elkjøp group, offers the Nordic region’s largest home electronics repair service.
Did you know that Elcare Nordic, which is owned by the Elkjøp group, offers the Nordic region’s largest home electronics repair service? This gives us a unique opportunity to steer the industry away from a throw-away culture towards a circular economy.
“The more products we get repaired, the better it is for our customers, the environment and our business. It’s actually a win-win-win,” says Ronny Solvang, department manager at Elcare Kongsvinger, who offer the Nordic region’s largest home electronics repair service. Every day, Elcare Nordic performs around 1,500 repairs, on everything from TVs, PCs and phones to electric toasters and hair dryers.
“The aim is to repair as much as possible, and to extend products’ lifetimes. You don’t always have to buy new products, even though you might think you want to. As trusted advisers, we can help change people’s attitudes. The more customers who know about this service, the better,” says Ronny, taking a bite of his waffle. It’s lunchtime, and it’s Friday, so that can only mean one thing at Elcare – waffles! The employees, most of whom are technicians, file into the staff restaurant. In total, more than 300 people work here at Kongsvinger, and at Elcare Nordic’s two other locations, Linköping in Sweden and Vantaa in Finland.
Loves tinkering around
“Many of our skilled technicians have been tinkering around with electronics for years. Some even started as kids in their bedrooms, which are actually a very good learning ground,” says Ronny as he leads us through the various departments, where all brands of electronic products are repaired, regardless of where they were sold, and the team also offer services for the private market. Here, people sit peering into the insides of PCs, there are boxes of all kinds of screws and components, there are large roles of pink anti-static bubble wrap, and. most importantly of all, there is a “drying machine” for PCs and phones that have fallen prey to cups of coffee and glasses of water. Janicke Tjernsberg, assistant team leader of the mobile phone team, looks up from her work desk. She is one of four women working in the technical department.
“I’ve always liked tinkering around and working with low current devices. New models are continually coming onto the market, so there is always something new to learn,” she says. Her colleague Endre Mork is doing the same just behind her. Endre and Janicke, and everyone else inside Elcare’s workshop, are wearing anti-static shoes and clothes to prevent the products from being damaged by static electricity.
“I couldn’t be happier. I love challenges. I like playing around with things, that’s what I do, I play around with things,” says Endre, who has just opened up a smartphone to repair.
Slightly further along, Ole Henrik Gammeltorp is leaning over a laptop. He has been with the business for 15 years.
“I’ve always loved technology and finding solutions to problems, so this suits me down to the ground. My colleagues are another reason why I have stayed here all these years,” he says, acknowledging his many colleagues. There is lots of laughter. Music is blaring out from the radio.
Unique starting point
Electronics is the fastest growing waste stream in the world. Each year, 54 million tonnes of electronic products (2019 figures) are thrown away – the equivalent of 5,400 Eiffel Towers.
“We must acknowledge that we are part of a massive problem. This makes Elcare Nordic’s work extremely important,” says sustainability manager Camilla Skjelsbæk Gramstad. Electronic products contain many valuable metals that are becoming increasingly scarce.
“Repairing and recycling products will enable us to continue to manufacture electronic products in the future. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we didn’t look after these resources. This makes repairs an important part of our sustainability strategy. If we didn’t recycle products that cannot be repaired, we would end up with nothing to make our products from,” says Camilla.
In 2020, Elkjøp Nordic accepted more than 33,000 tonnes of electrical waste. 98 per cent of all TV components were recycled into useful materials – for new products.
“But the potential is even greater,” says Camilla.
“Our customers have made it clear that they want help making greener choices, so we must become trusted advisers and create customers for life. Our repair services have an important role to play in this context. We shouldn’t have to persuade customers to buy a new washing machine costing NOK 10,000 when they could repair their old one for NOK 2,000. We must be able to give this type of advice to gain the confidence of our customers,” the sustainability manager explains.
Erik Gunset Sønsterud, CEO of Elkjøp Nordic AS, chimes in:
“Quite simply, we have a unique starting point to steer the industry away from a throw-away culture towards a circular economy, where we get more use and enjoyment out of each product. We know that it will pay off in the long run, as we don’t make our living from one-off sales, but from returning customers,” he says.