Credit: @kernowreuseshop
Cornwall Council have recently announced their long-term Resources and Waste Strategy, a plan built around reducing waste and giving items a second life.
At the heart of the county’s reuse push are the Kernow Reuse Shops run in partnership between SUEZ and Cornwall Council.
These shops, which are found at HWRCs across the county, allow the public to drop off good-quality items that might otherwise end up
thrown away.
Renew Manager Rebecca Parry via @kernowreuseshop
Staff and volunteers repair or restore them where needed, before selling them on at affordable prices.
An eighth reuse shop is due to open in Helston at the end of November.
The opening of the Falmouth Kernow Reuse Shop via @kernowreuseshop
Renew Manager Rebecca Parry said: “It means we’re saving more items from going in the waste and we’re helping support those who are possibly struggling with the financial strains of life at the moment.”
Cornwall Council’s strategy aims for at least 65% of the county’s household waste to be reused, recycled or composted by 2035, its expanding network of reuse shops is a part of that target.
Rebecca said: “We saved almost 400 tonnes of items from going in the waste stream, so it’s a remarkable amount of items that otherwise would have been going for incineration at our energy for waste centre. The 400 tonnes equates roughly to 74,000 individual items that we’ve saved.”
Nationally, more of us are choosing second-hand than ever before.
A BRC-Opinium survey found rising demand across seven out of ten product categories, and eBay’s latest Report says Brits are now the most active second-hand shoppers in the world.
Cornwall Council’s waste leader Carol Mould previously said to the BBC: “This great initiative is all about preventing waste and giving pre-loved items a new lease of life.”
People can drop off pre-loved items for the shops at any of Cornwall’s HWRCs.