Vision, mission & governance
A zero-waste local economy in which discarded appliances become community equity.
We intercept household appliances before landfill, restore and safety-certify them, and supply affordable, warrantied laundry appliances to low-income households — while running the workshop as a supported training floor that moves people into paid trade work.
Vision
A zero-waste local economy in which discarded household appliances are converted into community equity, environmental gain and secure local employment.
Mission
We intercept household appliances before landfill, restore and safety-certify them, and supply affordable, warrantied laundry appliances to low-income households — while running the workshop as a supported training floor that moves people into paid trade work.
Core impact statement — for grants, tenders and public communications
“Circular Appliance Co. extends the working life of household appliances to keep waste out of landfill, delivers safe and affordable laundry to households priced out of the market, and turns the repair bench into a paid pathway into the trades.”
Core values
Five values, each with a test attached.
Value
What it means
How we hold ourselves to it
Circularity
Extend the working life of every asset that can be saved; recover everything from the ones that cannot.
Zero-to-landfill target on intake; salvage rate reported monthly.
Equity & dignity
Access to a working appliance should not depend on access to credit.
No credit checks on concession tiers; no compounding interest; transparent published pricing.
Community empowerment
Training is paid, supervised and leads somewhere real.
Trainee wages budgeted as a cost of goods, not a grant line; qualification progression tracked.
Safety & excellence
A second-hand appliance sold to a low-income family must be as safe as a new one.
100% electrical test and tag; named supervisor sign-off per unit; warranty honoured without argument.
Honest measurement
We report what we actually achieved, including shortfalls.
Annual public impact report; methodology stated alongside every figure.
Leadership
Two directors, with clearly separated accountabilities.
Circular Appliance Co. is founded and directed by Mark Della Casa Alberighi and Hayden Della Casa Alberighi, with strategic and operational responsibilities held apart rather than shared.
Mark Della Casa Alberighi
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Accountable for strategy, governance and external partnerships. Mark leads negotiation and stewardship of the council, retailer and social-housing relationships that determine both supply volume and demand certainty, and owns the funding pipeline — grant submissions, impact investment and philanthropic relationships.
Portfolio
- Corporate governance and board reporting
- Supply and distribution MoUs
- Grant and investor relations
- Impact measurement and public reporting
- Long-term expansion strategy
Hayden Della Casa Alberighi
Co-Founder & Director of Operations
Accountable for the workshop and everything that moves through it. Hayden owns the end-to-end operating chain — collection, triage, repair, electrical safety certification, quality control and delivery — and is responsible for the technical standard that the warranty depends on.
Portfolio
- Workshop operations and WHS
- AS/NZS 3760 compliance and QC sign-off
- Logistics and fleet
- Training pathway design and trainee supervision
- Inventory, parts and salvage
Governance structure
Who is accountable for what.
| Body / role | Composition | Accountability |
|---|---|---|
| Board of Directors | Founding directors plus 2–3 independent non-executive directors | Strategy, financial oversight, mission integrity, appointment of the executive |
| Independent NEDs (to recruit) | Sought skills: community services, electrical trade / RTO, finance or audit | Independent challenge; chairing of audit and risk |
| Technical & Safety Authority | Licensed electrical supervisor (contracted or employed) | Final sign-off on every unit released for sale; testing regime integrity |
| Community Advisory Panel | Housing providers, case managers, and past trainees | Keeps pricing, referral and training design grounded in lived experience |
Legal structure — to be confirmed with advisers. Two structures are under consideration: a single company limited by guarantee (simpler governance, strong grant eligibility, no equity), or a dual-entity model pairing a trading company with a controlling not-for-profit (enables impact investment and asset lock). The choice affects tax treatment, DGR eligibility and access to certain grant programs, and should be settled with a lawyer and accountant before incorporation. Nothing on this site constitutes legal, tax or financial advice.
“We are not asking funders to subsidise a service forever. We are asking them to fund the workshop that makes the service pay for itself.”
Risk, safety & regulatory compliance
Selling electrical goods to vulnerable households carries obligations that sit above commercial considerations.
The register is published rather than kept internal. A partner or a funder is entitled to see what we think could go wrong and what we do about it.
| Risk | Exposure | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical safety & product liability | A faulty unit causing fire, shock, water damage or injury — catastrophic for the household and terminal for the enterprise | 100% electrical safety testing and tagging to the applicable Australian standard (AS/NZS 3760) before release; named licensed supervisor sign-off recorded per unit; serialised unit history; product and public liability insurance confirmed for second-hand goods; documented recall procedure |
| Consumer law obligations | Consumer guarantees apply to second-hand goods sold by a business; misdescription or unclear rental terms create legal and reputational exposure | Legal review of sale terms, warranty wording and any rental or instalment arrangement before trading — including whether any deferred-payment offer engages credit regulation |
| Supply volatility | Intake volume or quality too low or too erratic to schedule the workshop or honour commercial contracts | Diversify across at least three independent supply channels; hold a buffer of parts-harvest stock; contract commercial volumes only within demonstrated throughput |
| Trainee retention | Participants facing housing, health, transport or legal pressures cannot maintain attendance, disrupting production and their own progression | Wraparound case management retained by the referring partner; flexible rostering; milestone-based incentives; production plans that do not assume full trainee availability |
| Financial sustainability | Concession volume outruns the commercial margin funding it, eroding cash reserves | Enforce the minimum production mix rule; review contribution monthly; hold a cash buffer; treat grant income as capability funding rather than operating income |
| Key-person dependency | The enterprise depends heavily on two founders and one licensed supervisor | Document standard operating procedures from day one; cross-train; appoint independent directors; identify a relief supervisor arrangement |
| Reputational | A single unsafe unit in a vulnerable household would end referral partnerships regardless of statistics | Quality control treated as a safety function rather than a cost line; warranty claims honoured without dispute; claim rate published in the annual impact report |
The mark
A lifecycle read one way, a working appliance read the other.
Two arrows form a continuous loop — the circular economy — enclosing a machine drum with three rotating vanes. Read from the outside in, it is a lifecycle; read from the inside out, it is a working appliance.
The gap between the two arrows is deliberate: the loop is only closed when someone does the work of closing it.
Divert waste · Restore value · Empower community
Get involved
We are not asking funders to subsidise a service forever.
We are asking them to fund the workshop that makes the service pay for itself. If that is the kind of proposition your program is built for, the conversation is short.