On Monday (Novermber 28) Community RePaint was at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs first ever Reuse Forum, to discuss how to tackle the barriers organisations in the reuse and repair sector are facing.
Recycling minister Lord Taylor, who hosted the forum, declared that more jobs and training opportunities are needed to help the industry grow.
Lord Taylor declared that more jobs and training opportunities were needed in the reuse sector. “We want to see even more jobs and training opportunities become available in the re-use and repair sector – which is why we are bringing together people with an interest in sorting out barriers between people who have items for reuse, and those who want them,” he said.
Several barriers to reuse were noted by the Defra whilst the English Waste Review 2011 was being drawn up. Access to repair and reuse services was noted as a key issue in encouraging people to reuse items however some charities’ lack of storage space and confusion over how safety regulations may restrict the use of certain items also contributed.
“People want to do the right thing and not see items that are still useful go to waste. There are many groups such as local authorities and charities who are already putting these items to good use,” Lord Taylor said.
Companies that attended the forum ranged from reuse charities, retailers, local authorities and trade associations.
The organisations that attended the forum were: Any Junk, Bag2school/Bag2thefuture, Bellenden/Bond Group, British Heart Foundation, Charity Retail Association, CIWM, Community RePaint, CREATE UK, Currys, Dorset Waste Partnership, Eastex, Environcom, Environment Agency, Environmental Services Agency, ERP UK Ltd, Fareshare, Freegle, Friends of the Earth, Furniture Matters, Furniture Reuse Network (FRN), Gary Griffiths, IKEA, LARAC, London Community Reuse Network (LCRN), London Reuse Ltd, Marks & Spencers, National Community Wood Recycling Project, PREEN, Realliance, Recycling Lives, Resourcefutures, Rural Kent, Salvation Army, Salvo Reuse, Terry Maguire, Textile Recycling Association (TRA), The European Recycling Company Ltd, The European Recycling Company Ltd, The Social Marketing Practice, Veolia, Waste Watch, WRAP along with various local authorities.