SUNDERLAND CITY COUNCIL, UK

Sunderland City Council launched a furniture reuse scheme in 2011, run by WARPit (the Waste Action Reuse Portal). The scheme was established following the closure of several buildings in 2010 following restructuring. This meant there were significant amounts of waste furniture. Rather than disposing of these, an online inventory of available furniture, stationary and other supplies was established. When a member of staff requires any items, they see whether the item is available online and then arrange for it to be collected from the original department via a central storage facility.  

It is easy to enter new items onto the system. Where items are not picked up within a few days, they can either be sent to the central storage facility or donated by “friending” other organisations on the WARPit website.

There are disclaimers in place for electric items saying that the beneficiary will test appliances in compliance with regulations.

As a result of this initiative, Sunderland Council saved over £400,000 in 2.5 years following an investment of only £6,000, through reduced procurement of new goods and waste management costs. An estimated 50 tonnes of waste have been saved and over 1000 staff have used the system (WARPit, 2014).