PAINT circularity initiative Community RePaint has hit yet another milestone after its Wirral centre – run by Recipro – redistributed its 1 millionth litre of paint.

Community RePaint Wirral collects paint from 16  Household Waste Recycling Centres as well as receiving donated leftover paint from businesses and decorators in the local area. Their shelves are stocked with thousands of full and part-full tins of paint that members of the public can purchase at an affordable cost, helping to ensure that usable paint is saved from unnecessary disposal.  

Leftover paint from individuals, tradespeople, retailers and manufacturers can be donated to Community RePaint where it's sorted and sold for reuse for as little as £2 per litre. Community RePaint Wirral also remanufactures some of the surplus paint into a high quality, affordable ReColour paint, which can be used for jobs requiring larger quantities of paint.  

Lilian Graves, Network Officer at Community RePaint, said:- “Over 50 million litres of paint go to waste each year in the UK. It’s a shocking statistic and, at Community RePaint, we’re determined to provide a solution. Through the work we do at our Community RePaint centres we can make a meaningful difference in reducing the amount of paint being incinerated or sent to landfill to protect the planet. This also benefits those who reuse leftover paint in their homes and communities who can access paint affordably and sustainably.”

Through the 1 million litres of leftover paint redistributed, Community RePaint Wirral has facilitated hundreds of projects for individuals and community groups in the process brightening homes and community spaces. Rather than going to landfill or incineration, this donated paint has instead been given a second life brightening homes and community projects.

1 recent example of this is a mural created by Hearts4Refugees for its garden – a collaborative project designed and painted by the refugees supported by the charity. The aim is for this mural to continually evolve as an expression of the community they support, highlighting the real difference that reusing paint can have on a communal space to bring people together.

Beckie Close, Director of Recipro, said:- “Heart4Refugees is a local charity to the Wirral, and just 1 of many projects we’ve been lucky enough to support with our ReColour paint. They run art therapy sessions for the refugees and asylum seekers they support, which has involved the creation of a beautiful mural. We were delighted to provide them with the ReColour paint to help bring their stunning artwork to life.” 

The Community RePaint network was launched in 1993 through funding provided by Dulux and others and has subsequently been solely sponsored by Dulux and managed by regenerative transition experts Resource Futures. Since its inception, the network has redistributed over 5.4 million litres of paint and has a growing network of over 80 schemes across the UK, making it the largest contribution to circularity within its sector to date.