Hamilton Furniture Initiative
Units 14/16 Whistleberry Park Industrial Estate
Whistleberry Road Hamilton ML3 0ED |
t: 01698 820608 f: 01698 821629
Hamilton Furniture Initiative is a registered Scottish Charity (Charity No SC023969) and a company limited by guarantee (Company No SC328436). Company registered in Scotland. Registered office as above
Latest News
Local authorities send 10 million reuseable items of furniture to landfill each year
September 21, 2007
The Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS) has welcomed a study by The Furniture Re-use Network (FRN), which reports that over 10 million reusable items of furniture are sent to landfill by local authorities every year - almost 30,000 items every day.
In a speech to Sheffield Hallam University's Centre for Sustainable Consumption yesterday, Paul Smith, Chief Executive of the FRN, appealed to local authorities to change their processes. He said: “Some Councils have shown the way by introducing bulky reuse collections or setting up charity shops and workshops on civic amenity sites. We are calling upon all local authorities and their waste management partners to adopt this approach. Over half a million tonnes of ‘waste’ could be diverted from landfill in this way.”
Iain Gulland, Network Director of the CRNS, said: “In Scottish terms this is about 1 million reusable items per year or 50,000 tonnes of material, which could easily be diverted out of the wastestream if some more thought was put into how we collect these items in the first place. It is also about the messages we are telling householders about the need to look for alternatives to simply ringing up the council to get rid of furniture and white goods which they don’t have a use for anymore.
“As well as the environmental benefits of reuse, CRNS members demonstrate that
Mr Gulland added that the Reuse Framework being developed by the Scottish Government as part of the Household Waste Prevention Action Plan needed to focus on this issue and give clear guidance to councils on the steps they need to be taking to increase reuse of good furniture and white goods to not only divert them from landfill but to maximise the social and economic benefits.
The Furniture Re-use Network
FRN is the CRNS’s sister network in England, and was formed in 1989. It is a co-ordinating body for over 400 furniture, appliance and IT re-use organisations. The FRN promotes the re-use of unwanted furniture and other items for the alleviation of hardship, distress and poverty. FRN represents and co-ordinates the development of its members and works at a national level to increase the supply of goods to organisations and to ensure that a greater number of low income households benefit from their activities.
2000 Mattress going to good homes:
5th July 2007
Most poor families cannot afford to replace furniture
June 19, 2007
According to a report published this week, more than 90,000 children in Scotland live in 'severe poverty' and almost three quarters of families in this situation cannot afford to replace worn out furniture. The report, which was published by Save the Children on 18 June, is based on a new measure for severe poverty that looks at both low income and material deprivation.
According to the report, the average family living in severe poverty has an income of £7,000 per year after housing costs. 74% of families in severe poverty cannot afford to replace worn out furniture, compared with 18% in families that are not in poverty. 62% cannot afford to replace electrical goods such as a fridge or washing machine when they break down, compared with 10% of families that are not in poverty.
Linsay Chalmers, Furniture Projects Coordinator with the Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS) said: "This is a shocking statistic in a country as affluent as Scotland, but sadly it will come as no surprise to the many charities that exist solely to provide basic furniture to people that could otherwise not afford it."
Last year, a CRNS study showed that furniture reuse projects provided basic furniture and household goods to almost 68,000 people in Scotland who not would otherwise have been able to afford them.
The report also showed that one third of families in severe poverty cannot afford to buy their children leisure equipment such as sport goods or a bicycle.
Jamie Gray, the Assistant Manager of Launchpad Training and Enterprise, which runs furniture and bicycle reuse projects in Perth, said: "Launchpad were able to help over 500 families and individuals last year providing free furniture, electrical goods and basic sports equipment like bikes to those that would otherwise be unable to afford them.
"Furniture Projects all over Scotland play a vitally important role in helping those in ‘severe poverty’ achieve a comfortable, safe and happy home environment by providing the essentials the rest of us take for granted."