December 18, 2018 - 2359 views
Anyone having a clear out to make room for new Christmas presents, or who will have old clothes to get rid of after receiving new gifts, is being reminded they can make use of the kerbside collections in Conwy County to help some goods find new homes rather than be sent to landfill.
Local social enterprise Crest Cooperative works with Conwy County Borough Council to improve recycling rates and keep unwanted items out of landfill. Residents can recycle clothing and small electrical items every fortnight in purple and pink bags as part of the Council’s kerbside recycling collections.
Small electrical items collected in the pink recycling bags, like lamps, TVs, toys, vacuum cleaners, laptops and hairdryers, are inspected by qualified electricians. Items which can’t be repaired are stripped for parts and recycled, but the majority are repaired and tested. The items are then donated to families in need or sold on in Crest’s retail shops in Colwyn Bay and Llandudno.
In November alone collections from households in Conwy County saved over 3,500kg of small electrical items from going to landfill. Items of clothing for recycling should go in the purple bags for kerbside collection.
“Clothes are laundered and pressed and we select the best to go in our shops,” explains Rod Williams, General Operations Manager at Crest. “School uniforms collected over the summer found new homes for the new school year, keeping costs down for families on small budgets.”
“We donate warm clothes, towels, sleeping bags and tents to a charity for the homeless. Bedding that’s not suitable for this is given to animal charities.”
The shops also give volunteering opportunities to local people who need a helping hand to increase their confidence, or simply want to socialise with other like-minded people. Volunteering can lead on to full-time employment or education, and helps improve the volunteers’ lives as well as their communities.
Julian Woodcock volunteered in different roles at Crest, particularly enjoying working on the kerbside collection vans. With that work experience, he got a job at DPD unloading parcels, his first paid employment for over two years. “I did enjoy the vans,” Julian said. “It actually became the thing I enjoyed the most.” Even after getting a paid job, Julian still helps out at Crest when his shifts allow.
Rod Williams says, “Recycling clothes and electricals is so much better than things being dumped in the rubbish bin to go to landfill, just because the current owner doesn’t need them anymore. As well as being environmentally sustainable, you’re also helping out local people and improving lives.”
