The Edinburgh Remakery
About this good practice
This Good Practice is Edinburgh’s first ‘re-use hub’, supported by Zero Waste Scotland to change the scale and economic influence of re-use shopping in Scotland and empower citizens to learn repair skills. Fostering ‘reuse and repair hubs’ is a starting point for this approach to be spread across the region as part of the Circular Economy strategy, ‘Making Thing Last’ promoted by the Scottish Government.
The Remakery is at the forefront of re-use as a key player of Scotland’s economy and environment, encouraging to get better products by shifting from the model of buying products and throwing them away after use. This Good Practice also influences the building sector in Scotland which is essential to prevent usable materials from going to landfill, alleviating the issue on scarce raw materials, while promoting local jobs.
Resources needed
Working in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and CHAI, The Edinburgh Remakery is one of five RE-use and Repair Hubs located throughout Scotland, which has been made possible with funding granted by Zero Waste Scotland.
Evidence of success
Over the last year, the Edinburgh Remakery coached over 1,000 people on repair skills from woodworks to computer repair. Also develops several activities from:
-- Offering a free weekly repair lecture to the public.
-- Charging businesses for delivering them a repair training.
In the last year, they’ve tripled their diversion of waste from 70 tonnes to 250.The organisation has also helped them sustain two jobs while providing free furniture to vulnerable people across Scotland.
Potential for learning or transfer
This Good Practice is also interesting for other regions because it approaches re-use and repair hubs as education centres among the Scottish community and fosters research centres, universities, and communities in a transition towards a CE. It is an approach that can reinforce research centres by giving them to communities to manage and providing them with tools for becoming part of the Circular Economy. The hubs plan to increase the scale of re-use for buyers, maintaining the value of these articles in local economies, generating local jobs, and preventing useful items from ending up in a landfill.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
The Edinburgh Remakery