WEEE
Solar inverter recycling
Failed and swapped-out inverters, optimisers, and the cable that came with them. Whether you are an installer replacing units or a homeowner left holding the old one.
Solar panels last a long time. The inverter does not, and this is the decade in which that is becoming everybody’s problem.
A panel is generally warranted for twenty-five years. A string inverter is usually good for ten to fifteen. The large wave of domestic solar installed in the early 2010s is therefore hitting its second inverter now, which is why these are suddenly turning up in garages and installers’ vans in quantity.
What we take
- String inverters — the wall-mounted box, typically in a loft, garage or utility room
- Microinverters and optimisers — the small units that sit up on the roof behind the panels
- Hybrid inverters and charge controllers
- DC and AC cable, isolators, connectors and the mounting plate
- Generation meters and monitoring kit that came out with it
What is actually in one
More than people expect, which is why this is worth recycling rather than tipping. A typical string inverter is a substantial aluminium casing and heatsink, a transformer with a real amount of copper in it, and a set of boards. It is a good WEEE item.
It is also emphatically not a thing to put in a wheelie bin, which is where a fair number of them go when a homeowner is left with the old one after a swap and nobody told them what to do with it.
For installers
If you are swapping units regularly, this is a trade collection like any other — you accumulate them, we take them on a round, and you get a transfer note for each collection rather than a box in the corner of the unit that quietly becomes a mountain.
Cable offcuts, old DC runs and stripped-out mounting rail go in the same pickup. The aluminium rail is worth having separately if you generate enough of it.
For homeowners
If your installer left the old inverter with you, it is yours to dispose of and it is a legitimate nuisance. Send a photo of it on the wall or on the floor, tell us where you are, and it can go along with anything else you have got — it does not need to be a trip on its own.
Batteries and panels: ask
Home battery storage is lithium and is handled differently. See batteries, and ring us before you take anything off a wall.
Panels themselves are a separate recycling stream from the electronics, so tell us if the panels are coming down too rather than assuming they go on the same load. It is a question with a straight answer, but it is worth asking before the scaffold goes up rather than after.
How it works
Three steps. No site visit.
Send a photo
WhatsApp a picture of whatever needs shifting. No need to tidy it first or guess the weight.
Get a price
A straight number back, usually the same day. The real price for your actual load.
It’s gone
We turn up, load it, sweep up, and you get the paperwork showing where it went.
The money bit
What actually decides the price
Nobody likes “it depends”. Here is what it actually depends on, so you can guess pretty well before you even send the photo.
01
How much there is
The biggest single factor, and the one the photo answers on its own. We price by what it takes to shift — part of a van, a full van, one tipper load, three.
02
What’s in it
Some things carry a disposal charge by law — fridges, mattresses, tyres, plasterboard, paint. Others go the other way: if there’s real metal in the load, that value comes off your price.
03
How hard it is to reach
Kerbside and a wide drive is quick. Up two flights, through a narrow side gate, or forty yards down a wet garden is not. We’re charging for the time, not punishing you for the stairs.
04
Where you are
Wymondham and Hethersett are on the doorstep. Beccles is a run. It’s rarely the deciding factor, but it’s honest to say it counts for something.
Why there’s no “from £80” on this page
Because a from-price is a number chosen to get you on the phone, not a number anyone intends to charge. You ring, it turns out your job isn’t the one job in a hundred that qualifies, and the real figure lands once someone is already stood on your drive.
We’d rather you got the actual number for your actual load, in writing, before anyone turns up — and that you were free to ignore it. The price we send is the price you pay, unless you add to the pile, in which case tell us and we’ll re-quote.
FAQ
Straight answers
Do you take the panels too?
Ask before the scaffold goes up. Panels are a separate recycling stream from the electronics, so tell us if they are coming down as well rather than assuming they go on the same load.
What about the home battery?
That is lithium and it is handled differently. Ring before anybody takes it off the wall.
I am an installer with a pile of them.
That is a trade collection. You accumulate them, we take them on a round, and you get a transfer note each time rather than a corner of the unit that quietly becomes a mountain. Cable offcuts and mounting rail go on the same pickup.
What areas do you cover?
Wymondham and everywhere down the A11 and A47 — Norwich, Attleborough, Thetford, Diss, Long Stratton and across into Suffolk to Beccles and Bungay. If you are not sure, just ask.
Is it all done legally?
Yes. We are a registered waste carrier and licensed scrap dealer, every load comes with a waste transfer note, and our registration numbers are on every page of this site so you can check them before you ring.
How quickly can you come?
Often the same week, sometimes the same day if we are passing. Tell us where you are and you will get the honest answer rather than the one that gets us the booking.