Categories: News

Dulux has winning formula

The reformulation of its leading paint brand Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt White scooped the Sir Peter Parker Award, which is the most coveted of the Business Commitment to the Environment (BCE) award. The trophy was presented by Sir John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, at the 2012 BCE Environmental Leadership Awards ceremony in London (June 20 2012).

Susan Kendall, Sustainability Director, AkzoNobel Decorative Paints UK & Ireland said: “At AkzoNobel, we’re really passionate about driving positive change in the paint industry, and making a genuine difference to the environmental performance of our products is at the heart of this.”

Using innovative technology, the company developed a new formulation that has 15% less embodied carbon and uses 20% less water during manufacturing when compared with its predecessor, while still delivering the expected opacity, coverage, application and finish. In just the first quarter following its reformulation, the new Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt White reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 600 tonnes, saved 15,000 litres of water and prevented 77 tonnes of waste from being generated.

Awards president, Sir Anthony Cleaver said: “Our judges were very impressed with how environmental sustainability is a cornerstone of AkzoNobel’s business philosophy and this entry really ticked all the boxes for us. “Converting a leading brand and its customers to a more sustainable product takes great belief and commitment. We think it demonstrates outstanding leadership as a sustainable business model.”

To read more visit: www.bceawards.org/sir-peter-parker-2012/

Story from AEA Technology on behalf of WRAP

Community RePaint: Going for gold and green

Last year 332 million litres of paint (retail and trade) were sold in the UK. Of this, it is estimated that around 50 million litres – or enough to fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools – remained unused; stored in homes or garages, or just thrown away.

So when Team GB’s Rebecca Adlington OBE, who smashed the record for the 800m freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, takes her marks at the side of the Aquatic Centre’s wave-shaped pool, Community RePaint would like us to get set to take a quick peek at the paint pots in our sheds and cellars and go to a local Community RePaint scheme…

Community RePaint 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.

“Paint reuse is a winning combination!” said Community RePaint Network Manager Martin Pearse, “Not only does it help to protect the environment, but it also means that people across Britain can brighten up their homes and improve their communities with paint that would otherwise have gone to waste.”

So, when the athletes are limbering up, the spectators taking their seats and the Olympic torch handed over for the last time, remember: pass on a pot of paint or two to a Community RePaint project near you. Go on, be a sport!

For residents in East Berkshire this has just become even easier, following the launch of a Community RePaint scheme at the end of June in Bracknell, Berkshire, which brings the total number of paint reuse projects that are part of the Community RePaint network to 66. Spud, the Dulux dog, was guest of honour.

Community RePaint Berkshire is operated by the Community Interest Company Green Machine with the support of re3 – a partnership of three local councils: Reading, Bracknell Forest and Wokingham. The scheme has already received donations of paint from several organisations and is collecting residents’ leftover, reusable paint from the two Household Waste Recycling Centres in the area.

“If you need low-cost paint to brighten up your home or use in your community, then forget starter’s orders, just hop onto our website, skip to your nearest Community RePaint scheme or jump on the phone to find out more,” added Martin.

Veolia volunteers rock RePaint

Residents Ms Satu Said and Mrs Doris Baker who came to admire the team’s handy work said: “This has given the room a much needed new lease of life, the communal area is really important to our lives here and a lick of fresh paint was long overdue. We will all feel happier spending time down here now.”

Veolia Environmental Services releases staff for half a day each year to volunteer in the communities it operates in. Under this scheme, staff from the Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility have been able to help with a whole range of projects in the borough from redecorating sheltered housing units to helping with the creation of wildlife gardens for local schools.

Fabrice Bouchon, general manager for Veolia Environmental Services in Southwark said: “I’m very proud of our volunteering scheme, it is a great morale booster for our staff and it also helps the communities we work in. We have also been able to use paint from our reuse scheme that might otherwise have been disposed of, to make life just a little nicer for residents at Rock Grove.”

Cllr Ian Wingfield, cabinet member for housing management, said: “We are very grateful to our recycling partners, Veolia, for donating their staff time and resources to complete this work. Works are currently being done to refurbish our buildings, and Veolia painting communal rooms has enhanced how our residents feel about where they live. This contributes to improving their well-being.”

Community organisations in the borough can apply for small funding grants as well as volunteer help from Veolia staff via the Southwark EnviroGrant Scheme. Applications for 2013 will open in November, for more information see www.veolia.co.uk/southwark.

Play? Panto? Production? Community RePaint is behind you!

We were very happy when Community RePaint was able to support us with paint for the scenery for Cinderella,” said Paul McDermott, Events and Fundraising Officer, Linkskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust, “And, we hope they’ll be able to supply us with paint for many more productions to come.”

Another recipient of re-usable paint was Bromyard Road Methodist Church, Worcester, which performed Oliver! to sell-out audiences for four consecutive nights – thanks to the supporting role played by the paint from Community RePaint Worcester. The Church puts on a full programme of shows, revues and cabaret evenings and its monthly ‘messy church’ craft sessions often mean asking for more. Community RePaint Worcester is happy to help, and has supplied Bromyard Road Methodist with litres and litres of paint over the last three years.

Community RePaint schemes collect unwanted, surplus paint and re-distribute it to community groups, individuals and families in need, improving the wellbeing of people and the appearance of places across the UK. There are 66 Community RePaint schemes across the UK that take donations of emulsion, gloss and tile paint, eggshell, undercoat, primer, masonry and floor paint, exterior paint, varnishes and wood stain and satin paint. Unfortunately, greasepaint is not accepted!

“This is a great opportunity for all sorts of community groups, as well as families, who often have limited resources, to access good quality paint, which can make such a difference at home or on the stage,” said Community RePaint Network Manager Martin Pearse. Do you need paint? If your play, panto or community project needs paint, get in touch with your nearest scheme by clicking on www.communityrepaint.org.uk/need-paint/ and entering your postcode.

If you are a family or individual on a low income you can also receive paint from your local Community RePaint scheme, visit the website or call us, 0113 200 3959 for more information.

Community RePaint’s a winner: Not once, but twice!

The award is made annually, and recognises the research being carried out by members of the Institution at Masters and PhD level. It is presented to the best written paper based on a research project. Clair’s paper: ‘Opening up a can of paint? An assessment of the involvement of the civil society in paint re-use in England’, which she completed as part of her post-graduate studies for an MSc in Environmental Strategy, was named winner of the prestigious award by a panel of judges.

The Roger Perry Award comes hot on the heels of recognition for RePaint by local newspaper the Sheffield Telegraph at its annual Environment Awards. Community RePaint was deemed a worthy winner for its work to collect unwanted, surplus paint and re-distribute it to community groups, individuals and families in need.

Network Co-ordinator Clair Lloyd, who is based in Sheffield and collected the award on behalf of Community RePaint, said: “The idea to investigate how much paint people had in their homes, garages and sheds started in Leeds in 1992. The average was a staggering 17 tins, most of which was re-usable. Now almost 20 years on paint re-use is just as relevant, if not more so. Most of us have several tins containing unused paint at home or through our businesses.”

“Finding out more about the third sector organisations that deliver paint re-use in the community was the aim of my research, because, if we are to tackle the issue of leftover paint, it is important that we understand what makes these schemes successful. Paint re-use can offer so many benefits, and I hope that winning the Roger Perry Award will help to raise its profile.”

Clair Lloyd (centre) with John Skidmore, President of CIWM and Julia Bradbury from the BBC’s Countryfile, who presented the Awards.

Last year 332 million litres of paint (retail and trade) were sold in the UK. Of this, it is estimated that approximately 50 million litres was unused, stored in the homes or garages of DIY Brits or simply thrown away. That is enough paint to fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

In 2011 the Community RePaint network saved 343,597 litres of paint with a market value of over £1.5 million from going to waste and re-distributed over 217,000 litres to community groups, charities, voluntary organisations and people in need.

Do you need paint? Get in touch with your nearest Community RePaint scheme by clicking on: www.communityrepaint.org.uk/need-paint and entering your postcode or call 0113 200 3959 for more information.

Dedicated decorators help make house a home for Dion

Over 300 million litres of paint is sold in this country every year, of which an estimated 50 million litres remains unused; stored in homes, sheds and garages or simply thrown away.

In 2012 householders, traders and paint manufacturers donated 387,495 litres of paint to Community RePaint schemes, which then distributed 218,364 litres to some 2,214 community groups and 17,296 individuals, providing 190 jobs and 1,274 volunteer and training opportunities.

Community RePaint South Lancashire, working together with Macmillan Cancer Support, helped the family of young Dion by decorating their new home, after they had no choice but to move closer to the hospital providing the intensive therapy needed to treat their son’s condition.

Martin Gamester, Manager of Community RePaint South Lancashire, heard of the family’s plight and offered the services of the scheme’s Paint Shed programme, to decorate their new council house in Burnage, Manchester. Using paint donated to Community RePaint, The Paint Shed’s team was able to decorate Dion’s bedroom with a Disney theme and paint the rest of the house, as well as providing furniture and carpets. Volunteers from the local church and Macmillan Cancer Support also helped to spruce up the lounge, lay a floor and tidy the gardens.

“We basically made the house habitable by painting and decorating the whole house,” explained Jamie Monks, manager of The Paint Shed, “The family are absolutely made up with the results and are amazed just how many people got involved at no cost to them for this worthy cause.”

Community RePaint 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. Sponsored by Dulux, the Community RePaint Network is celebrating two decades of bringing colour to life.

Paul Murgett, Environmental Projects Co-ordinator, said: “Over the last 20 years Community RePaint has made a huge difference to families, like Dion’s, across the UK through the re-use of paint. 2012 was no different and the figures show another fantastic effort to enhance the lives of those in need through both decorating and work or training opportunities.”

“The Community RePaint Network is made up of 67 schemes across the UK, and we will be taking every opportunity to promote our 20th anniversary this year to raise awareness of paint re-use so that more individuals and community groups than ever before can benefit from brighter homes and communities,” added Community RePaint Network Manager Martin Pearse.

Getting colour from every drop… If your family or community group needs paint, no matter how much or how little, get in touch with your nearest Community RePaint scheme by clicking on ‘Do You Need Paint?’ and entering your postcode or call 0113 200 3959 for more information.

Dulux Dog to help celebrate the expansion of Community RePaint Nottinghamshire

Until now, the scheme has accepted unwanted paint from members of the public at Calverton and Worksop Household Waste Recycling Centres and then passes any good quality reusable paint on to groups and charities to help them with refurbishment, renovation and training projects that they’re involved in.

Now the County Council is extending the scheme to two more HWRCs – Newark and Beeston – and is also relocating the Worksop scheme to Warsop to make it more accessible to a larger number of residents.

The scheme has given away more than 12,000 litres of free paint to groups since its launch in 2010 and is keen to help even more, with over 160 voluntary organisations have signed up for the scheme so far. Occasionally, the scheme is also opened up to members of the public on designated open evenings. More than 4,000 litres of reusable paint has been given away at these events, making the total amount redistributed to an impressive16,000 litres.

“More than 366 million litres of paint are sold each year, of which 55 million are unused, stored or just thrown away,” says Coun Richard Butler, chairman of the County Council’s environment and sustainability committee. “Paint cannot go down the drain or in to landfill because it is harmful to the environment – the Community RePaint Nottinghamshire scheme means that people can donate their unwanted or surplus paint to the participating HWRCs where it is sorted and stored safely.”

“The scheme has been very successful since its introduction and has made possible the reuse of a significant volume of paint. Not only that, it has helped enormously a large number of community groups and voluntary organisations across the county.”

“Extending it to Newark and Beeston, as well as relocating the Worksop scheme to Warsop, will mean that a much larger number of people will be able to use the scheme and will significantly increase the volume of reusable paint being captured and distributed.”

A wide range of groups have already taken advantage of the free paint including Framework Housing association that provides housing, support and care for homeless and vulnerable people; Rumbletums, a community café that provides work experience placements for young people with learning difficulties and William Lilley Infant School.

The 1 tonne paint giveaway at Community RePaint East London!

The scheme will be giving away 5 litres of reclaimed paint (vinyl matt emulsion) per person to help kickstart those bank holiday DIY projects. There will also be a furniture painting workshop, kids recycled craft activities, mural painting, and a mini Give or Take of reused household goods. The Paint Place can be found at Unit 7, The Sidings (off Hainult Road), Leytonstone, E11 1HD.

Let this Spring Open Day inspire a fresh coat of paint, a new design for tired furniture, or even a mural for community wall. The Paint Place has a pot for every job!

Community and creative organisations can sign up on the day to The Paint Place annual membership scheme and save up to £150 per year. The general public can also benefit from The Paint Place’s low cost, reclaimed paint all year round with paint starting from just £1 per litre. Last year, The Paint Place redistributed over 40,000 litres of reusable paint to individuals, community groups, art groups, schools and housing associations, diverting 56 tonnes of paint from disposal.

Community RePaint Cambridgeshire invites you to get painted!

Their revamp includes a new membership scheme, an enlarged paint sales area with three times as much paint to choose from, low cost paint brushes and rollers, a bespoke mixing and colour matching service called Re-Mixed by CCORRN, and they are also open six days a week (10am-3pm).

They are buzzing with new ideas and have started a new service known as the The RePaint Wish List – a paint finder and reservation service for members of the public in Cambridgeshire. If you need a specific type or colour of paint or large quantities you can email a form to them so they can prepare and mix it, and let you know when it’s ready.

But perhaps best of all they’ve launched a monthly Get Painted competition which invites community groups, charities, schools, community centres and other third-sector and not for profit organisations to apply for a gift of up to 240 litres of free paint – each month one lucky winner is an announced.

They have also teamed up with other local organisations to help supply free painters too!

A community-spirited group of staff, known as the Green Team, from March-based energy management consultancy CUB volunteered their time to give Queen Adelaide Village Hall a fresh lick of paint – which of course was supplied by Community RePaint Cambrdigeshire.

Jacqui Fairfax, chairman of CUB, said: “We are a local employer and we have always believed that it is important for us to give back to the local community. We’ve worked on several projects such as tidying up with the council and with local schools as well as gardening in local parks and we’re looking forward to our next challenge.” From the looks of it they took to painting like ducks to water, so let’s hope they keep building on their new painting skills!

And what’s more, Community RePaint Cambridgeshire is also showing a flair for local partnering to replenish their paint stocks. At the beginning of May they received a generous donation of 400 litres of paint from East Anglian building company Bennett Homes. Worth more than £2,000 the paint will be distributed to individuals and community groups through the Get Painted Scheme to be used in a range of refurbishment projects.

Marcus Pheasant, Development Director at CCORRN said: “We really value the support of Bennett Homes and we will ensure that this paint ends up on walls, not in landfill so that together we can paint a brighter Cambridgeshire”.

AND coming soon… not happy to rest on their laurels for long there CCORRN is working with The Inspirations Studio in Peterborough to open Community RePaint Peterborough and a mini scrapstore near the Town Hall. You can follow the the progress of this new scheme on Twitter (@CCORRN, #Paint4Peterborough)

Follow this link to find out more about Get Painted and The RePaint Wishlist. If you have surplus paint you would like to put to good use contact CCORRN on 0845 602 7144 or email: repaint@ccorrn.org.uk

Roll up for free paint at Community RePaint Nottinghamshire

The offer of free paint is also being opened up to all residents of Nottinghamshire once a month at open evenings at each of the four sites – more than 4,000 litres of reusable paint has been given away at these events in the past. Although there is no guarantee what colours and types will be available at any one time, there’s usually plenty of choice, all the tins are at least half full, you can take as much as you need (with a fair share policy)  and it’s all provided free of charge.

If you would like to pick up some free paint at one of the open evenings contact Nottinghamshire County Council on 0300 500 80 80 to book your slot. Booking is essential. The dates of all the open evenings until October can be found below and on the Nottinghamshire website:  http://bit.ly/116W3GX

Left: Alice Stechly of Notts County Council gets carried away with the free paint giveaway at the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Lilac Grove, Beeston, along with Stephen Buckland of the waste team.

 Environmentalist Janet Poliakoff of Elm Avenue, Beeston, said: “I am in favour of anything that helps recycle. It will also help people out who are short of money. So many things are wasted in today’s society and when we have had building work done we have looked for a way to reuse as much as possible. People do not take into consideration the amount of energy it takes to both create things and dispose of them.”

Team leader Mark Lambert from Framework’s Moving Forward Service said: “It’s very important for the people that we support that the places they are living in or about to move into actually feel like a home. Being able to decorate your own home may help you to do that but it can also be quite expensive – particularly for people on low incomes. This very simple scheme allows vulnerable people to do something that they didn’t think was possible before and for that reason I believe it is an excellent idea.”

OPEN EVENINGS 2013

Calverton HWRC, Hollinwood Lane, Calverton, NG14 6NR

Thursday 27th June                 5pm – 7.30pm

Thursday 25th July                  5pm – 7.30pm

Thursday 22nd August             5pm – 7.30pm

Thursday 26th September        5pm – 7.30pm

Thursday 24th October            4pm – 6pm

 

Beeston HWRC, Lilac Grove, Beeston, NG9 1PF

Wednesday 19th June              5pm – 7.30pm

Wednesday 17th July               5pm – 7.30pm

Wednesday 28th August          5pm – 7.30pm

Wednesday 18th September    5pm – 7.30pm

Wednesday 16th October        4pm – 6pm

 

Warsop HWRC, Oakfield Lane, Warsop, NG20 0JG

Tuesday 18th June                  5pm – 7.30pm

Tuesday 23rd July                   5pm – 7.30pm

Tuesday 20th August               5pm – 7.30pm

Tuesday 24th September         5pm – 7.30pm

Tuesday 22nd October            4pm – 6pm

 

Newark HWRC, Brunel Drive, Newark, NG24 2EG

Friday 28th June                     5pm – 7.30pm

Friday 26th July                      5pm – 7.30pm

Friday 30th August                 5pm – 7.30pm

Friday 20th September            5pm – 7.30pm

Friday 18th October                4pm – 6pm

 

For the public: If you would like to pick up some free paint at one of the open evenings contact Nottinghamshire County Council on 0300 500 80 80 to book your slot. Booking is essential. The dates of all the open evenings until October can be found on the Nottinghamshire website:  http://bit.ly/116W3GX

For groups: To register your group to eligible for free paint all year round visit http://bit.ly/1439vAW and download an application form, email waste.management@nottscc.gov.uk or call Nottinghamshire County Council on 0300 500 8080.

Community RePaint Notinghamshire has been set up by Community RePaint, a non-profit organisation, Nottinghamshire County Council and Veolia Environmental Services.