What is Community RePaint?
Waste paint, how big is the problem?
In 2006, 400 million litres of paint (retail and trade) were sold in the UK. Of this, it is estimated that approximately 80 million litres are unused, stored in homes or garages or just thrown away. Thats enough paint to fill 33 Olympic-sized swimming pools! Community RePaint provides a solution to this problem by providing an outlet for unwanted reusable paint while helping local communities and individuals.
We see 'waste paint' as a resource (as long as its reusable!) and strive to collect and redistribute more paint year after year. Do your bit for the environment and your local community by donating your paint to us!
The UK network
Community RePaint is an award-winning UK network of 70 community-based paint reuse projects, stretching from Cornwall to Belfast to the Shetland Isles.
Individual projects collect “half-tins” of leftover, domestic paint from householders at a donation point at the local council’s household waste recycling centre or civic amenity site.
Unsold and end-of-line paint is also collected from local DIY stores such as B&Q and Homebase, trade centres such as Dulux Decorator Centres and local outlets. Painters and decorators also donate leftover paint from decorating jobs.
The paint is stored at the local projects premises and then redistributed to local charities, community and voluntary groups and individuals in social need. Paint is usually offered free of charge although projects encourage small financial donations to help cover their costs. Some projects operate annual subscription programmes.
The UK network is managed by the employee-owned, not-for-profit environmental consultancy, Resource Futures. Please click here for more information on Resource Futures and how Community RePaint began.
Trade and business
Community RePaint has been supported and sponsored by ICI Paints since its inception in 1993 and forms part of ICI Paint’s product stewardship programme. It also has links with a wide range of other paint manufacturers, retailers and the painting and decorating sector.
Community RePaint continues to make closer links with the paint industry and its trade bodies and with local authorities in order to redistribute paint to an ever-increasing number of charitable organisations and individuals in social need.
Job training and volunteering
The running of Community RePaint supports jobs and offers work training and volunteer places eg to the long-term unemployed and people with learning disabilities. Many projects also run training courses in tandem with paint redistribution in subjects such as health and safety, manual handling, waste management and computing. Several of these are accredited to NVQ and City and Guilds level.
Milestones
2000 – Community RePaint wins two prizes at the Biffaward Awards, for Best Waste Minimisation Project and Overall Project Winner. Awards presented by the Secretary of State for the Environment.
2002 – Community RePaint is cited as an example of best practice in a European Commission report with a recommendation that other member states set up similar networks.
2004 – Community RePaint wins an ICI Chief Executive award (Europe) for Community Involvement.
Statistics
In 2006, the UK network:
• redistributed over 208,000 litres of paint
• worth over £800,000
• to a total of 11,000 individuals and community and voluntary groups.
Additionally, operation of the network supported:
• 90 part-time and full-time jobs.
• 140 part-time and full-time volunteer positions.
• the running of 180 training courses.
