SUEZ says its new guide provides practical advice on scaling up and maximising opportunities for reuse at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across the country.
SUEZ predicts that HWRCs will evolve to become Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRCs), places where unwanted, pre-loved items are collected for upcycling, repair and re-sale.
“Putting Reuse at the Heart of Your Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC)” offers local authorities practical steps for converting HWRCs to Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRCs), SUEZ says.
The new guide builds on key recommendations laid out in the “Stuff of Life”, a report looking at the issue of overconsumption in the UK, launched by SUEZ earlier this year.
SUEZ says its objective is to make reuse more accessible to consumers and generate economic, environmental and social value as part of the circular economy – delivering positive benefits to society through job creation, training opportunities and access to more affordable products.
The UK’s net zero objectives will require us all to move toward a more circular economy.
Some of the recommendations in the report include: reuse models are most easily incorporated during refurbishment, support the public by creating a drop-off point for items they identify as reusable and invest in a clear process for capturing and analysing data.
Commenting on the new guide, Sarah Ottaway, Sustainability and Social Value Lead at SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said: “The UK’s net zero objectives will require us all to move toward a more circular economy. To achieve this, a collaborative industry approach focused on knowledge sharing and expertise, underpinned by strategic government policy is required.
“However, the adoption of reuse is far from universal, for a range of reasons including lack of investment, prioritisation and an absence of government incentives or targets.
“Using the knowledge and learnings we have acquired over the past decade, our new reuse guide will provide valued partners and peers in the sector with ideas and insights that maximise reuse in every location, support skilled job creation and generate revenue to support more developments and greater ambitions.
“The opportunity associated with reuse for society, the economy and the planet are huge, but we need to start setting the wheels in motion and encourage others to put theory into practice.”
