We are starting 2017 on a high having once again increased the amount of paint collected by our schemes in 2016, building on our successes in previous years. We achieved a 7% increase from 2015, collecting over 460,000 litres of paint from householders, traders and paint manufacturers and colouring over 419,000 lives.

Part of the growth can be credited to our two paint remanufacturing centres becoming fully operational in 2016. Our second remanufacturing centre launched in October 2016 on the Wirral and followed the success of the centre in Cambridgeshire, which opened in December 2015. The centres provide the perfect solution to the issue of over 50 million litres of paint being wasted, through landfill disposal or via incineration, in the UK each year. The new process allows us to increase the amount of leftover paint we can collect for reuse. The centres remanufacture the paint into new containers, providing larger quantities of consistent colours and reducing leftover paint from entering the waste stream.

Our schemes collect unwanted, surplus paint and re-distribute it to individuals, families and communities in need, improving the wellbeing of people and the appearance of places across the UK. In 2016, over 332,000 litres of paint were redistributed by the 74 schemes in the network which helped improve communities across the UK and coloured over 419,000 lives. The remanufacturing centres processed over 26,000 litres of paint, which was redistributed to their customers, other Community RePaint schemes and groups and charities in need of larger quantities of paint.

Reflecting on the year, Martin Pearse, Community RePaint Network Manager commented:

‘We are constantly working to expand and develop the network so it’s great to see our schemes achieving more and more each year. It really is a pivotal time for the network as we continue to open schemes in new areas whilst our existing schemes are gearing up to do more and more. Our remanufacturing centres offer a great boost to the whole network, making good quality affordable paint available and maximising the amount of paint we can prevent being disposed of.’

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