Surplus Rescue CIC – A Community and Environmental Initiative
This Community Interest Company is an entirely new concept for the South West. My intention was to set up a service for the construction industry, to help them reduce the amount of clean, useable waste from construction projects which are otherwise sent to landfill. These goods/materials are then offered to charitable, social enterprise and community projects, although there will also be an opportunity for the resale of some goods, the proceeds of which will be reinvested into the organisation and contributions made at the end of each financial year to various charitable organisations.
Surplus Rescue CIC is run by myself, with the additional regular resource of several volunteers to help collect and collate materials for storage.
External Organisation Support
Having contacted, and in some cases visited, external organisations which are pivotal to this project being successful, I have been encouraged by the overwhelming enthusiasm and support received. From the Environment Agency, who have granted me a Waste Carriers, Transfer and Storage License from 1st April 2010, to Viridor at Lean Quarry, Plymouth City Council, Co-Active, WRAP, Envirowise, NISP and the many construction companies who have voiced an interest. It would appear that everyone can see the potential in this business model, no matter what their role.
The Future for Surplus Rescue CIC
Future services that Surplus Rescue CIC would like to offer include expansion of similar services to companies and organisations providing shopfitting services, relocation agents, liquidators, auction houses and county councils.
The Surplus Rescue scheme is gaining an increasing amount of interest in the construction and third sector communities, and its service and viability will be an ongoing and fruitful process, enabling many charitable organisations in the South West to benefit. Once proven successful, I foresee the potential for this pilot scheme to be duplicated in other counties across the UK.
My aim for the future is to be included in every Site Waste Management Plan, with recognisable benefits given to construction companies adopted the scheme for construction projects.
To raise the profile of this project, in the future I would like to endeavour to instigate a programme of creating a small selection of sustainably built homes, using a large proportion of recovered surplus materials, a little like ‘Ready Steady Cook’, but the ingredients would certainly be different - and definitely larger!
As Government and local council targets are under ever increasing pressure, both financially and morally, initiatives to find sustainable alternatives to landfill are top of the agenda, socially, politically and, most importantly, environmentally.
It is in everyone’s interests to develop and adapt the resources that we have to build a future that is sustainable both for industry and the environment, and one which also extends an opportunity to benefit organisations which rely on charitable and public support.