Meet the team turning waste into opportunity in York.
An eco-conscious team in York have started a new not-for-profit business to reduce waste and enable the local community to do the same.
The Recycle Project, which opened its first store at Yorvale Business Park in Layerthorpe last month, intercepts furniture and household items headed for landfill. The team then sell the items and run community workshops from the profit.
The aim is to provide a safe, inclusive space to learn new skills and meet new friends whilst reducing waste along the way.
The project started in 2020 during the pandemic, but has been a long time coming, explains CEO Bradley Mulhearn: “It started with the bike shop (Recycle York), we started recycling bikes ten years ago, and through that and being in contact with household waste sites, it progressed from there. We were looking to open a premise last year but with lockdown, we put it on hold. We have been collecting items and turning them around already, but we waited until June – until things opened up properly – to open these premises here.
“We currently go to around 20 household waste sites across North Yorkshire. We travel as far up as Stokesley, the East Coast, Scarborough and Whitby. We travel quite far. We’re regional like. We do get donations from the public too, and we encourage it. If people want to bring us their stuff, that’s great. We’re currently doing over 20 tonnes a month.”
Anyone can shop at The Recycle Project, and anyone can take advantage of the workshops, which run on a pay as you feel basis.
Bradley explains: “We’ve launched with twelve workshops. As we go, we’ll see what works and what doesn’t. We’ve got arts and crafts, pallet workshops – that one’s getting booked up the quickest, we’ve got furniture up-cycling, making hooks out of old spanners and golf clubs. we’ve tried to cater for everybody.”
The team at The Recycle Project is currently on the lookout for volunteers to help with the day-to-day running of the store. They would particularly like to hear from anyone with art and craft skills that might be able to spare a couple of hours a week for a workshop.
And what about future plans? Olly Hopwood explains: “We’re looking into setting up a focus group and running a committee. Basically, we want to hear from people in the community and gauge with them what they feel we could be doing better. We haven’t finalised how we will set it up, but we want to hear from people who are interested in getting involved.”
If you’d like to enquire about the workshops, email workshops@therecycleprojectcic.com, visit www.therecycleprojectcic.com or call 01904 421894.
What’s on @ The Recycle Project
Every Wednesday – Arts and Crafts – Workshop One / Bike Maintenance – Workshop Two
Every Friday – Lego Building – Workshop One
Every Saturday – Pound Sale – Furniture shoppers can grab themselves a real bargain here. Goods are sold for a pound each to help turnover stock.
Bike Maintenance Workshop Two
Tuesday 3rd – Pallet Works – Bird feeder
Thursday 5th – Repair shop – Pirate ship rebuild
Tuesday 10th – Furniture/up-cycling – Painting
Thursday 12th – Repair shop – Restoring an old clock
Tuesday 17th – Pallet Works – Storage box
Tuesday 24th – Furniture/up-cycling – Painting
Tuesday 31st – Pallet Works – Wine rack
If you’d like to enquire about the workshops, email workshops@therecycleprojectcic.com, visit www.therecycleprojectcic.com or call 01904 421894.
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