Actress Lien Van de Kelder first customer of new electroate... (Antwerp)

Not coincidentally, on World Repair Day, an electrical workshop was opened in Circuit (an initiative of De Kringwinkel) in Antwerp’s Nieuw Zuid where you can have broken household appliances repaired. The first customer was actress Lien Van de Kelder, who brought in a record player together with her daughter Jeanne (8).

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Maaike Floor

Today at 18:23—

It is no coincidence that an electrical workshop was opened in Circuit (an initiative of De Kringwinkel) on World Repair Day where you can have broken household appliances repaired. The first customer was actress Lien Van de Kelder, who brought in a record player together with her daughter Jeanne (8).

Since mid-June, the Antwerp district of Nieuw Zuid has, in addition to modern housing blocks and art galleries, also a thrift shop, where other partners involved in the circular economy have also found shelter. There was already a textile repair workshop and a bicycle workshop, but an electrical workshop was added this weekend.

waste heap

“Many people don’t know what to do with their broken devices, so they just buy new ones, while many devices can still be repaired very well,” says Klara Vossen of De Kringwinkel. “Because we want to prevent unnecessary useful items from ending up on the waste mountain, they can be given a second life here.”

Hafid Wadi is the workshop coordinator. “The Kringwinkel also trains people who have few opportunities on the labor market elsewhere. Some of the employees have already completed electrical training, but we also train people ourselves in our central warehouse in Merksem. We start with lighting and then people can move on to repairing vacuum cleaners and irons and eventually laptops, which is sometimes very complex.”

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First customer

Lien Van de Kelder was the first customer to bring something in on Saturday afternoon, and was also a bit of an ambassador for the new studio. “I already know Circuit because we meet here every month with committed Antwerp residents who want to contribute ideas about new sustainable initiatives for Antwerp. I really like that there is now a place where you can have smaller devices repaired. Before this there wasn’t really a place you could go with it and it’s a shame to throw away everything that no longer works. I am also happy that these kinds of initiatives are no longer something on the fringe, but that they are just part of the economy.”

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For the time being, Circuit is a bit on the edge of the city. “Many passers-by don’t come here, but people do know where to find us,” says Klara Vossen of De Kringwinkel. “The neighborhood here is still under construction, so in the long run we will be in the middle of this neighbourhood.”

The Week of the Re-use Shop has also started on Saturday, so beautiful (retro) treasures have been displayed in the various Re-use Shops throughout the week. There is someone in the electrical workshop from Tuesday to Saturday. “We can do smaller repairs, such as the Lien record player, the same day. Larger repairs can take longer, and if it doesn’t work out or becomes too expensive, we’re honest about that.”

The electrical workshop of De Kringwinkel is located in Circuit: Jef Cassiersstraat 29, Antwerp, www.circuitantwerpen.be–