December 2014
A SOCIAL enterprise and council recycling service has created local employment opportunities and diverted 386 tonnes of Conwy’s household waste from landfill.
Over the last year Crest Co-operative has collected unwanted furniture, electricals, clothing and textiles from the homes and communities of residents, on behalf of Conwy County Borough Council. The green partnership has seen nearly 400 tonnes of unwanted items collected and reused in 2014.
The fortnightly kerbside recycling services are offered to 55, 000 Conwy residents. Purple clothing recycling bags and pink electrical reuse bags have lined the streets of residential areas across the Conwy county. Social enterprise Crest Co-operative runs three recycling services on behalf of the council, including collections of bulky furniture and electrical items from Conwy homes.
Council officers and Crest Co-operative’s staff gathered to mark the end of the year and the social impact that the collections have had. Sharon Jones, Chief Executive of Crest Co-operative, said the green partnership has created employment opportunities. She said: “The local authority collections have helped Crest Co-operative to provide work placements for unemployed people who come to us on back to work programmes and adults with learning disabilities, who have permanent work placements at Crest Co-operative.
“We have collected 173 tonnes of unwanted textiles, through our popular purple bag recycling service and our textile recycling banks. We sell the items in our three retail stores, to fund our community reuse enterprises,” she added.
Crest Co-operative’s three retail stores are situated in Llandudno Junction, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay. The social enterprise run a large Materials Reuse Facility (MRF) in Mochdre. Fridges, freezers, washing machines and more electrical items, are tested and repaired by a team of electrical engineers. They are then sold to the community.
Andrew Wilkinson, Head of Neighbourhood Services at Conwy County Borough Council, said: “Crest Co-operative provide a professional and reliable service, which has the added benefits of social inclusion, and a focus on local reuse of materials. By using Crest Co-operative’s collection service, Conwy residents know that they are benefiting the local community.”
Local residents can request purple recycling bags (textiles) or pink recycling bags (small electricals) or a collection of unwanted furniture/electricals by calling Crest Co-operative on 01492 596 783 or visiting www.crestcooperative.co.uk.