Home improvement retailer Wickes and recycling specialist and CIOB partner Recipro have formed a partnership to redirect “waste” products.
Recipro runs ReciproCity centres, which accept donations of surplus stock which are sold into local communities, families and charities for a fraction of their original cost.
In 2017, Wickes diverted 225 tonnes of waste to Recipro’s two reuse centres in Wirral and Swansea.
Deleted and returned products from across the whole range offered by the company were redirected into this scheme, including: kitchen carcasses and doors; baths, sinks and toilets; doors; bathroom cabinets; fixtures and fittings; lighting; adhesive; and paint accessories. The waste benefited hundreds of individuals, families and charities.
Some of the businesses that have benefited include:
Community Soul Cafe
A Christian and community project run by a team of trained barista volunteers. The Eden Garden and Ice Cream Shack came about as a direct result of engagement with ReciproCity and its willingness to help promote a sense of “community spirit” in Wallasey.
Friends of Birkenhead Park: Everyone’s Café
A community café run by volunteers from the Friends of Birkenhead Park charity. One explains: “We had come to Recipro for paint for our park benches and the kitchen and spotted the kitchen units. As we needed to update our kitchen and bring it up to a standard to serve the public we decided to buy them and fit them.
“They worked very well and has also helped us score a very high four on our food standards agency inspection. Recipro in Wallasey have been very good to us.”
Talycoppa School Swansea
The local school wanted to create an arts and crafts room for the children, and used Earthstone sinks, decor end panels and various base units to create a space the teachers and pupils could be proud of.
