Our story
We work closely with the community of Stockport to reuse plastic waste that isn't currently recycled by the council. As we work with people in the community to turn our plastic waste into new useful things our approach simultaneously helps to strengthen community cohesion, educate and raise awareness of plastic waste and supports individuals health and wellbeing as they get creative with the materials and contribute to a meaningful project.
We are based on the Precious Plastic model and have a community workshop where we can provide the tools, equipment and training for people to reuse their plastic waste. People can drop off their plastic, join in a workshop or just come and see what we're up to. In this way, people can build up their own confidence to get involved and develop their understanding of the whole process of reusing our waste locally.
We take a very informal approach as a community benefit society to working with as many people as possible in ways that suit them. Every stage of the recycling process is an opportunity for collaboration whether that be litter picks, neighbourhood plastic collections, designing new products, experimenting with materials, shredding plastic, making new products or selling things. We work with many other local organisations to make sure we involve people from across the community.
Our advice
Working with other organisations is key to ensuring the project is inclusive and accessible.
Keeping the project informal and not asking for high levels of commitment means that more people are likely to get involved and keep engaged.
Test ideas early.
Our metrics
Numbers of people we've inspired to reuse plastic in new ways.
Amount of plastic saved from general waste.
The number of new items made from plastic waste.
