There are a variety of local and national re-use organisations that are well established. In addition to delivering their own services, local authorities can work with existing organisations to promote and encourage re-use. WRAP has recently launched its Partnerships are key to success (PAKTS) initiative which comprises a suite of material including how-to guides and case studies highlighting the importance of re-use and partnership working.
Before setting up a re-use service it is important to establish whether there are any existing initiatives. If there is a scheme locally then this should be supported. The organisations below can provide listings of any registered furniture re-use organisations, scrapstores, charity shops and bike re-use schemes:
If there are no schemes in a target area it is worth considering approaching community groups to establish whether there is any scope for them to operate such a scheme. Furniture re-use schemes are generally led by an active community group, especially those interested in the environmental impacts or social aspects of the project usually providing furniture to low income families and training for the unemployed.
Working with Third Sector Organisations
Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) are being encouraged to contract to deliver public services rather than rely on diminishing levels of grant funding. The benefits of working with TSOs include:
- providing second hand materials to people who need them
- creation of training, volunteer and employment opportunities
- increased access to resource recovery services
Working with TSOs and small to medium sized enterprises will require changes to procurement processes. Some WRAP resources providing guidance on working in partnership with external organisations include:
The Bulky Waste Guidance - Third Sector Involvement - provides more details on these changes.
How to guides - step-by-step guides aimed at encouraging more partnerships between local authorities, waste management companies and third sector organisations.