Days after the wrapping paper came off millions of new iPods, digital cameras and sat-navs, DSG International, the owner of Currys, appointed a new “green” director to help to recycle the old gadgets.

Helge Amotsbakken, a Norwegian, is to oversee DSG’s environmental work around the world, cutting its carbon footprint, and winning the hearts, and wallets, of eco-minded shoppers.

Although not a boardroom appointment, the role of group director of recycling, returns and reuse is one of the most senior posts created by a British company specifically with green issues in mind. Mr Amotsbakken, 57, as a former journalist and a PR veteran who worked with the organising committee of the “green” Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994, is well-qualified to sell DSG’s achievements to the public. However, he is adamant that the move is more than PR, saying: “We want to be a retailer that really does what he says he is going to do. I shouldn’t comment on the competition but I have read a lot of fairytales.”

This summer, DSG opted out of a government-backed scheme involving local authorities and set up its own programme to recycle WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment). It launched Take-Back, encouraging shoppers to drop their old cameras and MP3 players off in Currys and PC World stores for recycling, rather than simply sling them in the bin.

The group’s home-delivery staff are asked to offer to take away customers’ old freezer, cooker or washing machine when they deliver a new one.

Mr Amotsbakken says DSG is on track to recycle more than 40,000 tonnes of WEEE in the year to July 2008, equivalent to 27,000 cars in weight and more than double the previous year’s total. He argues that the group is doing so much more than the competition that rivals are buying credits from DSG to comply with WEEE rules. DSG also claims to have made breakthroughs instore, such as selling energy-efficient light bulbs at the price of standard bulbs.

For Mr Amotsbakken, there is simple rationale for doing even more. If Currys and PC World become known as the retailer that does best on green issues, not only will it have helped the environment but it should also boost sales, given public concern about climate change. “It is not forbidden to make money from environmental issues,” he says.

Mr Amotsbakken graduated with a journalism diploma from the University of Wales in 1974. After journalism and PR, he focused on the environment in 1998, helping to set up a WEEE recycling scheme in Norway. He joined DSG as director for environmental affairs for the Nordic countries two years ago, and was promoted to the same post in its electricals division. “In the last ten months, the focus on environmental issues has improved tremendously,” he says. “It’s important for us to be there.”

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