Deco mag Spring '17 issue

community repaint
Waste paint?
Not any more!
Akzo Nobel and Community RePaint
have opened a second paint
remanufacturing hub in The Wirral as
part of their drive to re-use waste paint
Spring 2017
*Community RePaint
This network of local
schemes collects
unwanted leftover paint
and re-distributes it to
people, families and
communities who need
it to improve their homes
or community.
*Brits throw away around 55
million litres of paint a year,
more than half of which is
perfectly useable.
*Try to be more
accurate about the
quantity of paint
you need for a job to
prevent over-buying.
If you’ve not been shopping
for paint recently, you could
well be in for a shock next
time you need to redecorate.
Because paint is definitely not
cheap stuff these days; and a
‘designer’ brand such as
Farrow & Ball, Little Greene
and Paint Library will set you
back well over £40 per 2.5L
tin. Ouch.
So great news that
AkzoNobel UK, working
with Community RePaint,
has launched a second
innovative not-for-profit paint
re-manufacturing facility, the
new one being near Liverpool,
while the first one opened just
over a year ago in Cambridge.
Based on The Wirral, the
new facility is providing paint
to people in the north west
whose budgets don’t stretch
to new paint and who may
otherwise not be able to
maintain their homes and
local/community buildings.
So far more than 10,000
litres of waste paint have been
collected and treated to make
a quality product again, while
some 1,300 people have
benefited from super low-cost
or free paint.
The reprocessing centre
uses technology developed
by AkzoNobel and its partners
- including Keith Harrison of
Newlife Paints - which aims
to slash the amount of paint
ending up in the waste
stream. Waste paint is a big
environmental hazard bcause
paint is not biodegradable so
has either to be burned or put
in landfill.
And with around 55 million
litres of paint going to landfill
each year, AkzoNobel’s
ambition is to increase the
amount of waste paint
collected for reuse in the UK
10-fold to three million litres
by 2020, while the target for
this year is to collect and
reprocess 100,000 litres
between The Wirral and the
Cambridge centres.
Help for the Lake District
Those who’ve so far
benefited from being able to
buy recycled paint for nominal
sums include the Cumbrian
Flood Volunteers who help
flood victims in the North
West. Last winter saw
hundreds of homes severely
damaged by floods in the
region, with many people left
devastated because their
properies weren’t insured. So
to receive paint to help them
redecorate has been a huge
help, says CFV.
Emmaus help the homeless
Emmaus is a charity which
provides a home and
meaningful work to more
than 700 formerly homeless
people. Part of a network of
28 communities across the
UK, Emmaus North East has
launched a community in
South Shields, having
renovated a derelict building,
turning it into home for 15
formerly homeless people.
The building was painted
inside with paint from
Community RePaint and the
new residents now have work
repairing and upcycling
donated household goods
and clothing, which can then
be sold.
Matt Pullen, UK MD of
Akzo Nobel UK & Ireland,
says the paint reprocessing
revolution is well underway.
‘This scheme is leading our
industry in reducing the
amount of paint entering the
waste stream, as well as
having a transformative
impact alongside Community
RePaint by colouring the lives
of those who can least afford
to buy new paint.’
www.communityrepaint.org.uk
Deco mag 04