Tag: scotland

RePaint reaches rural Scotland

Gledfield Primary School, set in the beautiful and rural surroundings near Loch Migdale, requested help from Community RePaint Highlands with painting their sheds and benches. Our northernmost scheme in the UK, hosted by New Start Highland, was able to offer a cost-effective solution.

Community RePaint Highlands receive surplus paint from a number of paint suppliers and manufacturers. These include popular brands such as Dulux and Johnstones Trade Paint, as well as the Scottish paint specialist, The Paint Shed, who have a chain of seven stores located around Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Due to the volume of reusable paint that this scheme receives, the scheme is able to offer donations of reusable paint to community projects, charities and schools entirely for free.

Scott Clelland from Community RePaint Highlands said “The school got in touch with us as they needed to paint quite a few things around the place, but had to think of their budget. We were able to help by donating 90 litres of paint to them at no cost.” In this way, our schemes continue to divert paint from waste but also brighten the surroundings of their local communities.

“We always try to help schools and charities as much as possible – it’s important to give back.”

 

SEPA supports reuse of waste paints in new regulatory position

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published an interim position statement on the storage and reuse of waste paint which clarifies how these activities should be regulated.

Storage and beneficial use of non-hazardous waste paint is normally an exempt activity under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations. Community groups who store waste paint for reuse are required to register their exemption with SEPA in a simple, one-off registration which can be done online and free of charge.

The mixing of waste paints for reuse is not currently exempt from waste management licence requirements. However SEPA supports the reuse and wider benefits provided by these community activities and will not require not-for-profit organisations to hold a waste management licence for the mixing of non-hazardous waste paint. (The storage and mixing of waste paint that is labelled as hazardous, and is therefore special waste, is still a licensable activity.)

Maureen Menzies of RePaint Scotland said “This is welcome news indeed! It is not only a tremendous cost saving for RePaint Scotland but means we can go ahead and bulk up our recycled paint, as can those other organisations who want to top up half full tins, knowing that we are all compliant with SEPA regulations.”

Community groups who are unsure of whether their activities are affected by waste management licensing regulations should contact their local SEPA office for guidance.

A full review of waste management licence regulations and exemptions is being carried out by the Scottish Government and SEPA under the Better Waste Regulation Action Programme.

Innovation in Scotland featured on BBC

The reused paint was just one of the products which contributed to ensuring the best environmental credentials possible in creating a viable three-bedroom home. And the results look fantastic, with a durable, clean finish throughout. Read more about this on the BBC here.