The power of repair

International Repair Day is celebrated on 19 October It raises awareness and promotes the benefits of re-use and reducing waste as we shift towards a circular economy.

The waste hierarchy should be taught at school

Throughout my life so far, I’d always been taught that recycling was the most important thing to do. However, when I came to SUEZ, I quickly learnt that re-use and repair should take priority over recycling as it is higher on the waste hierarchy (see image - Courtesy of Keep Britain Tidy).

Repairing helps to extend a product’s lifetime and reduces the need for new products, and in doing so lessens an item’s carbon footprint. Furthermore, reusing items preserves our natural resources by reducing the number of new materials we need to make brand-new products. Increasing re-use and repair helps us shift towards a more sustainable future, as we reduce our resource demand and improve our resource efficiency.

Re-use with purpose

Re-use is at the heart of SUEZ’s purpose with a vision to ‘live in a world where there is no more waste’. This strategic priority is reflected in the Renew Hub in Manchester, which SUEZ operates on behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The Renew Hub is the UK’s largest re-use operation of its kind, where they collect unwanted items, repair them, and then sell them on at the three Renew shops located in household waste recycling centres in Manchester. They have the facilities to repair items including white goods, small electrical appliances, furniture and bikes. Since the Renew Hub opened, they have diverted over 283,000 items from going to waste. Money raised from the re-use shops is put back into the community by annually donating £100,000 to the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and £220,000 to the Recycle to Greater Manchester Community Fund. This project not only aims to reduce disposal, but it creates value from waste.

Second lease of life

I am fortunate to have visited the Renew Hub recently and it was a great experience to see something innovative and new to me! While I was there, I took part in an activity where we upcycled chairs which had arrived at the hub by painting and reupholstering them. This gave the chairs a creative spin to them, which I found incredibly rewarding as we were able to give unwanted chairs a second lease of life (see photo). Though it did prove that it wasn’t an easy task and that the professionals do a fantastic job of making old items look new!

Social value in re-use and repair

SUEZ has also been involved with HMP Ford near Surrey. This is a project creating social value through helping prisoners to learn new mechanical skills by repairing bikes and giving them a new lease of life. In 2023, 604 bikes were processed by HMP Ford, increasing to 607 so far in 2024. In 2024, 116 repaired bikes provided to support Active Surrey’s charity projects that offer bikes to refugees and young people. These bikes are aimed at supporting the recipients’ general health and well-being, as well as make it easy for them to travel to school or work. The remaining 491 bikes were taken to the reuse shops across Surrey to be resold and reused.

SUEZ is also facilitating the repair of medical equipment. In 2023 and 2024, 2,932 walking frames and crutches were given to Feltham Young Offenders to repair back to NHS standard, which SUEZ then delivers to NHS South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC). This process is beneficial on many levels as it is saving the NHS a significant sum of money – £50,158 according to the most recent figures – instead of buying new equipment. It also creates a purpose for young offenders as they are learning skills, and ultimately reducing the need for new materials and energy to make brand-new walking frames and crutches.

Social value is a key benefit of repair activities and is generated in multiple ways. Firstly, if repaired products are resold, this is often at a lower price than a new item, which helps lower income communities afford essential and quality items such as chairs and bikes. Through SUEZ working with programmes such as HMP Ford and Feltham Young Offenders, this is helping to support the development of useful skills for prisoners and young people which can help guide them towards a better path in life. Repair activities can also be a fun way to bring people together and promote wellbeing and inclusion.

Repair, re-use, repeat

International Repair Day is a great opportunity to promote the power of repair in transitioning to a more circular economy. Repairing items is a great way to keep valuable materials in circulation for longer, rather than disposing of them. The examples provided here show how involved and engaged SUEZ is with increasing re-use, and these demonstrate the wide range of benefits that come with them such as reduced costs, environmental impact and the benefits created for people and society. If everyone takes a small, gradual shift in their habits to reuse and repair more, this will make a huge contribution to the change we need for a more sustainable future. Joining SUEZ and learning about the importance of driving up the waste hierarchy makes me think twice about how I could repair something or if I really do need to buy myself something new.