ReciproCity Wirral, the innovative reuse hub located in Wallasey, will be officially opened onThursday 22 September by Councillor Ann McLachlan, Deputy Mayor of Wirral.
The local building and DIY materials reuse centre, which takes surplus, unwanted products and supplies them into the local community for a fraction of their original cost, has just relocated to larger premises on Dock Road, Wallasey. It has also launched a new paint remanufacturing centre on site as part of the Community RePaint scheme.
Stock is donated from construction companies, suppliers and builders’ merchants, including Morgan Sindall, Wickes, Jewson and Travis Perkins. Leftover paint is also collected from Merseyside and Flintshire household recycling centres, in partnership with Veolia.
Each year in the UK, up to 50 million litres of paint is thrown away either through landfill disposal or via incineration, which is an expensive process. In addition, £1.5 billion worth of surplus, unused building material is disposed of annually.
Supported by AkzoNobel, the owners of Dulux, this Community RePaint centre is using pioneering technology to transform ‘waste’ paint into a brand new, quality paint product at a community friendly price. This process enables leftover and surplus paint to be collected, remanufactured and put into new containers.
Last year ReciproCity Wirral reused 50,000 litres of paint, and with the new remanufacturing process it is looking to vastly grow this number.
ReciproCity Wirral sells products for around 25-30% of retail price, and customers range from charities and community organisations to members of the local community looking to brighten up their home.
Michael Close, ReciproCity Wirral Operations Manager, said: “We are over the moon to have moved to these new premises. We can accept even more stock, which keeps it out of landfill, and can help even more of the local community. With the launch of our new paint remanufacturing centre we’re hoping to create more jobs and work experience opportunities too.”
Matt Pullen, UK Managing Director of AkzoNobel UK & Ireland said: “British households throw away 55 million litres of paint every year, but over half of this paint is good enough to reuse. This innovative scheme is leading our industry in reducing the amount of paint currently entering the waste stream, as well as having a transformative impact, alongside Community RePaint, by 
colouring the lives of those who can least afford it.”
Martin Pearse, Community RePaint Network Manager, said: “We’re delighted to continue our partnership with AkzoNobel and Newlife Paints on the roll-out of this innovative remanufacturing technology. This fantastic new facility will help us to create more social value from previously wasted paint. This coincides with Sustainable Living Month, which will be celebrated with events at Community RePaint schemes across the UK.”
Full details of the paint collected and distributed in 2015 as well as the people supported by the schemes in 2015 can be found here
You can also find out more about Community RePaint on our website or social media, where we’ll be sharing what’s happening across the country in a month of #SustainableLiving
Twitter:@Comm_RePaint
Website: communityrepaint.org.uk
