With this remit, it is no surprise he wished to visit one of the Community RePaint schemes within his constituency to promote Corporate Social Responsibility. On Friday 21st March he called in on Community RePaint Cambridgeshire to find out exactly how the staff and volunteers at the scheme collect, process and provide leftover paint to the community. He even got his overalls on to have a go himself!
The programme had received a call from a man who was disappointed to find that there were very few options available for him to dispose of his unwanted paint in Norfolk, as the council no longer accept it at the Household Waste and Recycling Centre’s. Martin spoke about the fact that many councils are limited in what they take, but explained that Community RePaint offers an alternative solution.
This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the largest Community RePaint schemes in the country and to play a key role in developing it as it continues to grow. Visit the FRP website for more details http://www.frponline.org.uk/2014/04/frp-is-recruiting-a-business-development-manager/
Martin Pearse, Community RePaint Network Manager spoke at the South West Recycling Forum on Wednesday. The forum was focused on tricky materials, of which paint can definitely be considered one. There was a lot of interest from the Local Authorities present in what Martin had to say about Community RePaint being a possible solution to this challenge.
On Thursday Bethan attended the event ‘Paint the town Green’ along with her colleagues from Resource Futures. This was an opportunity for organisations and community groups in Bristol to discuss the best way forward leading up to Bristol Green Capital 2015. There were a lot of interesting and creative ideas shared and as always a lot of interest in Community RePaint as a reuse solution.
In 2012 336.5 million litres of paint (retail and trade) were sold in the UK. Of this, it is estimated that approximately 50 million litres are unused, stored in homes or garages or just thrown away. That’s enough paint to fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
The Community RePaint Scheme at Wirral has collected over 15,500 litres of paint in its first year, far exceeding all expectations. That’s enough to paint an estimated 1.2 million square foot of wall. The scheme has seen month on month growth and in June alone almost 2,500 litres were redistributed. Mike Close, Operations Manager at Recipro, said “We’re thrilled to have seen such success in our first year of running RePaint. We are not only reducing a huge waste problem, but we’re helping local organisations and residents to improve their homes, offices and community buildings without it costing them a fortune.”
One of the partners of the scheme is Veolia, who operate Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in the Merseyside area. The HWRCs are operated as part of a 20 year contract with the Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (MRWA), the authority responsible for waste disposal on behalf of all Merseyside Councils. Unwanted paint is dropped off at several centres by local residents and until recently was disposed of to landfill. In the first year of the partnership almost 9000 litres of paint has been collected by the Recipro scheme from Veolia HWRCs, the majority of which has already been reused in the local community. Mike Wake, Assistant Contract Manager at Veolia Merseyside & Halton Ltd said “Working closely with Recipro we have established an effective working relationship which has seen steady growth of the paint reuse service. Our aim is continued growth of the business with the added social and environmental benefit of helping the local community reuse a product that was previously disposed of to landfill”.
One of the community projects who have benefited from the scheme is Team Oasis, a children’s charity in Toxteth have purchased 250 litres of paint through the scheme. Paul Nilson of the scheme said “Using the Recipro service to source low cost building materials and paint has enabled us to not only to get the project finished on cost but also on time. We were surprised by the high quality of the materials, especially the paint which is just £1 per litre. We will be using the service again and again in the future and would certainly recommend it to anyone”
Martin Pearce, Manager of the Community RePaint Network nationally praised the Wirral scheme: “Recipro have done a great job in developing Community Repaint in such a short time in the Wirral area, and are to be congratulated. The great result being thousands of litres of paint which would have been wasted has now been used to brighten up many homes and community buildings.”
To find out more about donating or purchasing paint, please contact ReciproCity Wirral on 0151 639 0651 or Wirral@recipro-city.co.uk
Spearheaded by isYOU Initiatives, a community interest company based at Ryde, the project will see unwanted paint donated by businesses and retailers given to people — particularly those in social need — charities, schools and voluntary groups. The Community RePaint Project has been successfully rolled out elsewhere in the country by environmental consultants Resource Futures. Heath Monaghan, project manager at isYOU Initiatives, said: “The Comm-unity RePaint project is so simple and is hugely beneficial for both the community, as it can help us all to improve our environments by making them cleaner and tidier, and the environment, because it provides a way of reusing paint, rather than sending it to landfill.”
Article from Isle of Wight County Press Online, by Emily Pearce 06/09/2014.
Run by Veolia, Notts County Council’s waste contractors, Community RePaint Notts at Worksop, Newark, Beeston and Calverton recycling centres provides local community and voluntary groups with free paint donated by the public.
Residents who would like to pick up some free paint need to call Notts County Council on 0300 500 80 80. Pre-booking is essential.
Tins of paint are restricted to Notts residents only.The paint night dates for September are:
More at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/communityrepaint.
Article orignianlly published by the Guardian.
by Guardian Reporter
Published: 8th September, 2014
newsroom@worksop-guardian.co.uk
Our scheme in Bradford has created some wonderful murals in a city centre underpass.
This is just one view of the paintings done by professional artisits in Jacob Well subway in Bradford. Designed by head artist JenniferWright, with help from other artists including Lynn Smith, Mark Firth, Nicky Palmer, Miranda Phillips and others from Artworks Creative have been working for a weeks on the murals, which have certainly brightened up this walkway!
The project has recycled paint donated to the Community RePaint scheme in Bradford. This project made what could be a dreary space, a showcase of colour and artist talent. Volunteers have worked on the paintings, as well as members of the Stroke Recovery group. Well done to everyone involved!
The award ceremony was held yesterday, Monday 11th November 2014, at the Houses of Parliament, London. They were first established in 1994 as an annual campaign to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world. There are many different categories, including automotive, building and construction, finance, local authorities, as well as international.
Community RePaint Network Manager, Martin Pearse, collected the award on behalf of the UK-wide network, and said “It is good for Community RePaint and the reuse of paint to be recognised in this way”. The citation informed that this scheme was the first of its kind in the world, and was preventing a valuable resource from being wasted, and in turn benefitting thousands of people within local communities.
Here’s Martin with the certificate and trophy.