The Travis Perkins Group Saves North West Community Projects More Than £20,000 in 2012

Online, May 21, 2013 (Newswire.com) - In 2012, the Travis Perkins Group worked with Recipro to save North West based community projects in excess of £22,000. By donating end of line, no longer required stock into the Recipro Community Reuse Scheme, these materials were sold onto community and charity projects in need for a fraction of their original cost.

A number of schemes benefited from the service, including sports clubs, youth groups, colleges and community allotments. One organisation, Helping Young People Excel (HYPE) managed to save over £1000 using Recipro. Matthew Houghton from Hype said "HYPE would like to thank Recipro for helping our budget stretch further by providing us with top quality ma¬terials at extremely low prices. HYPE targets the most deprived communi¬ties across Merseyside focusing on problems and barriers affecting young people. Thanks to Recipro and Travis Perkins we were able to set up 3 new centres within the Merseyside area, which will allow us to help many more young people. We would recommend the Recipro service to any organisation - helps to save money and does some good for the environment too!"

HYPE purchased a variety of materials from Recipro, but one innovative use stands out. HYPE were able to purchase surplus kitchen units, which had been donated by the Travis Perkins Group, and 'upcycle' these into a music station for their youth project (photo attached).

Using Recipro to repatriate surplus building materials rather than disposing of them not only creates benefits for the local community, but also from an environmental point of view. The Travis Perkins Group donated almost 26 tonnes of materials into the scheme. This meant that over 26 tonnes of carbon was saved (the same energy would be used to brew 1.48 million cups of tea!). The Travis Perkins Group have used Recipro in the North West and South Wales regions, and will be working with Recipro as it continues to expand around the country.

John Leader, Group Environment Manager for the Travis Perkins Group, said, "The relationship with Recipro is a great example of how the Travis Perkins Group is putting sustainability to work in our business. There are clear environmental, social and financial benefits for all parties involved, and those align perfectly with our strategy of creating a sustainable competitive advantage for our businesses."

Recipro accept materials from construction companies and suppliers into their localised ReciproCity Reuse Centres (there are currently three - Wirral, Cardiff and East London), from where they are sold into the community sector for a fraction of their original price. They accept materials which can be reused for their original purpose, and can receive anything from bricks, kitchen units and timber to door handles, window frames and paint.

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