" Britain is the first country in the world to introduce a Climate Change bill and has been leading the way in the global fight against dangerous climate change. The work I have seen today provides one link in that chain"
Joan Ruddock, Environment Minister
Bristol, England: Joan Ruddock, Labour’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs visited ground-breaking national recycling organisation, the Furniture Re-use Network (FRN).
Labour’s Bristol West Prospective Parliamentary Candidate and chief executive of the FRN, Paul Smith, invited her along last week to look at their pioneering work tackling climate change and poverty.
The Bristol-based company set up in 1989 co-ordinates the work of 307 organisations involved in waste across the UK.
Together they aim to reduce unnecessary rubbish being sent to landfill sites by re-storing household goods and selling them on at affordable prices.
In the last year the FRN re-used £2M items across the UK enabling three-quarters of a million low-income families to obtain furniture and electrical goods at affordable prices.
They have also enabled 8,000 trainees to access training and qualifications from fork lift truck driving, furniture building and electrical qualifications.
"Re-use has had a great year thanks to the Government. In May it was given star billing in the Government’s waste strategy and this was followed in July with charitable re-use being made a key cornerstone of legislation governing electrical waste"
Paul Smith, Labour’s Bristol West Prospective Parliamentary Candidate and Chief Executive of the FRN
The Bristol Sofa Project
One of the most successful and largest of the schemes is the Bristol Sofa Project in Old Market.
Sofa Project’s chief executive Julian Williams, gave Joan Ruddock a tour of the main shop on West Street and a chance to meet both volunteers and service users of the project as well as seeing the work in the factory which restores tests and ships the goods.
SOFA operates one of the largest re-use projects in the country. It collects and re-uses furniture and electrical items. It is one of the FRN Enterprises contractors and has a significant electrical re-use facility.
Following recent boundary changes, both premises are in the new Bristol West constituency which Mr Smith will be contesting at the next election.
Following the tour, the Minister said:
"I think Paul Smith is doing a great job both in terms of meeting the local community's needs and stimulating the voluntary sector to better business practice. He is also helping with the Government agenda to reduce waste.
"Every year one million tonnes of household waste is produced and most gets buried in holes in the ground. This not only wastes the raw material and the energy that produced them but also adds dramatically to climate change.
"Britain is the first country in the world to introduce a Climate Change bill and has been leading the way in the global fight against dangerous climate change. The work I have seen today provides one link in that chain.
"I hope this organisation will encourage more and more similar facilities to be set up throughout the country."
Paul Smith said:
“We were very excited to welcome Joan Ruddock to see the fantastic work being done in Bristol, both by FRN and the Sofa Project.
“Environmentally re-using equipment has many benefits over recycling because it involves considerably less energy. This reduces the costs ensuring low-income households are able to access a range of good quality households items, from beds to freezers and wardrobes.
Mr Smith continued:
“Re-use has had a great year thanks to the Government. In May it was given star billing in the Government’s waste strategy and this was followed in July with charitable re-use being made a key cornerstone of legislation governing electrical waste.
“More charities than ever before are being paid re-use credits which is funding paid per tonne to charities re-using items and was introduced by the Government in March 2006.
“Charities like the Sofa Project are growing year on year between 15 and 20 per cent which is great news for our environment.”
Further information
The FRN is the largest membership body for Third Sector organisations involved in waste with 307 members. The organisation has the objective to reduce poverty through the provision of re-used goods at affordable prices. These include:
- Furniture
- Domestic appliances and other household electrical items
- Paint, bicycles and a wide range of other items
- Office furniture for community organisations
- Starter Packs – crockery, cutlery, bedding etc for homeless people, refugees and others starting a new home with little or no possessions