A former household waste recycling centre is now home of a revolutionary re-use drop off centre.
The original facility, which closed in October 2021, located in Swanton Road, Norwich is being reopened by site owners FCC Environment. The project is in partnership with local charity, The Benjamin Foundation and Precycle, one of the largest multi-material recyclers in Europe focused on the re-use of materials entering the waste stream. It will help breathe new life into second hand items, avoiding waste going to landfill, creating social value and raising funds for charity.
The drop-off centre opened on Wednesday the 8th June with the intention of giving residents a place to bring items otherwise intended for the “tip”, so they can have a second chance in life. Any items dropped off will be sorted by local charity The Benjamin Foundation and sold in their shops in Norfolk, including in their store on Oak Street in Norwich. It will raise vital funds for the work they do helping children, young people and families across Norfolk and Suffolk to overcome big challenges in their lives.
“This is a first for the area and for the partners involved,” said Liam Bould, Regional Development Manager for major waste firm and site operator FCC Environment, who have reopened the site to support the local community. “We have operated reuse collection points across a number of our household waste recycling facilities that we operate for local authorities across the UK. As a result we know the public hate seeing good reusable items go to waste.
“But we all lead busy lives so opening up a drop off centre means members of the public will be able to bring good quality donations for The Benjamin Foundation to Swanton Road if it works better for them geographically.”
The facility is large and offers easy access to the public to bring “re-use donations” particularly larger items such as furniture, TVs, White Goods, sports equipment, kids toys, bikes, books, electrical items and usable bric-a-brac.
Precycle will take any items that meet the reuse acceptance criteria, but are not deemed suitable for resale in the local charity shop.
Paul Sinclair, Operations Manager at The Benjamin Foundation said: “We are delighted to be part of this new initiative alongside FCC Environment and Precycle. The Benjamin Foundation has been helping to support local vulnerable children and young people for over 25 years. We are seeing an increase in demand for our services in all areas following the pandemic and, with the growing cost of living, this is likely to further increase. By bringing pre-loved, re-usable items to the Swanton Road site, people really can have a direct impact on improving the lives of vulnerable young people in our local communities.”
The site will be open 09:00 to 16:00 Wednesday to Sunday with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
