The Reuse360 Hub
Preston, Lancashire
Our Story
The Reuse360 Hub is a circular economy initiative developed by the Waste Service at Lancashire County Council, designed to divert good quality furniture and household items out of the waste stream, and instead into the homes of people who need help. Items are collected from one of Lancashire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs), where they are then cleaned and prepared for reuse at the Reuse360 Hub by members of staff and volunteers.
The Challenge
In the Lancashire-12 area, 13.3% of the total population are income deprived, with 16.7% of children aged 0-15 living in income deprived families. Some of the people who make up these statistics are clients of the Reuse360 Hub, along with others facing difficulties, such as those fleeing domestic violence, refugees, or young people leaving care.
Our Solution
The Reuse360 Hub is able to alleviate some of the financial challenges these individuals and families face by providing reusable items that would otherwise have been destined for landfill or recycling, for free.
Access to the Hub is granted on a referral basis, with the referrals typically being made by social workers, but also other professionals too, such as school teachers within Lancashire. Items can be selected from the Hub via the Reuse360 Hub website, and then distributed either by click&collect or delivery service which is run in partnership with Lancashire’s Child and Youth Justice Service. The Reuse360 Hub also offers pop-up events where the Reuse360 Hub goes on tour!
Redistributing reusable items of course has much needed environmental benefits too – playing a small but important role in increasing Lancashire’s recycling, reuse and composting rate of 45.7% (2019/20) to the target rate of 65% by 2035. Compared to making and buying new, reusing existing items already in the economy reduces the need for new natural resources, reduces pollution and energy consumption, and reduces the amount of greenhouse gases being released – a core goal of the Reuse360 Hub.
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