September 2016 saw the opening of a new innovative paint recycling and re-manufacturing here in the North West of England!
The not-for-profit hub was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Wirral, Councillor Ann McLachlan. It is supported by the largest paint manufacturer in the world AkzoNobel, owners of Dulux. Currently run by ReciproCity Wirral a target of over 100,000 litres of paint will be recycled back to the local community by the end of 2017. Last year they reused 50,000 litres of paint so the introduction of the new re-manufacturing facilty should great increase capacity.
Stock is donated by local construction companies, builders suppliers and merchants. Some of which include Wickes, Jewson and Travis Perkins. Excess paint leftover from various projects is collected from recycling centres in Merseyside and Flintshire. This is carried out in partnership with Veolia, the French waste management company.
The Wirral centre is the second of its kind setup by AkzoNobel with its the Community RePaint scheme. It aims to drastically reduce the amount paint thrown away of in the UK each year. Each year up to 50 million litres of paint is disposed of in either landfill or incineration. This is bad news for the environment! Expecially considering over £1.5 billion worth of surplus building materials are disposed of each year in the UK.
Matt Pullen, AkzoNobel UK and Ireland managing director 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.
This new scheme has been launched in the year we saw AkzoNobel issue carbon credits to shipping companies. The credits are issued to ship owners who convert their vessels to AkzoNobel’s Intersleek 900 hull coating system. It shows a clear commitment to protecting the environment by the global company.