Reuse
Use again or more than once, the action of using something again
West Northamptonshire Council provide services to dispose of household and commercial rubbish and recycling. But before you put anything in the bin, have you considered whether it could be reused?
Reuse is becoming more and more popular, with vintage, collectible and charity shops enhancing high streets across West Northamptonshire.
There are various ways for items to be reused:
Family and friends
Asking family and friends if they have a use for things you no longer need is the first step, whether it is clothes, furniture, books or anything else. Always check with those nearest to you first.
Community
If you have school age children, a uniform swap shop or pre-loved sale is a simple way to ensure uniform is used as much as possible and help bring down uniform costs.
Repair cafe
The nearest repair cafes are in Rugby and Wolverton. A repair cafe is somewhere that items can be bought back to life by you and local volunteer experts with tools and materials to help make the repairs.
Find out more about repair cafes.
Events
Events like bring and buy sales are excellent ways of giving items extra life without them being thrown away.
Charity
Local charities and organisations are often on the lookout for used items for example animal charities can often make use of old towels and blankets.
Smaller reusable items in good condition can be taken to any number of charity shops in West Northamptonshire where funds can be generated for lots of good causes.
There are also several charities locally that can collect larger reusable items, such as:
Other providers are available.
Online
You can offer all sorts of items to other people online using reuse groups or by selling them.
No cost
Freegle and Freecycle are both online communities where you can offer items for others to take away or even find things that you are looking for.
Selling and buying
There are lots of online and mobile app sales platforms where you can sell just about anything from furniture to electricals and clothing. Ebay, Gumtree, Facebook marketplace, Vinted and Dpop are just a few that you may have heard of but there are lots to choose from.
Please be careful when using any online community or marketplace - follow all guidelines and rules to ensure your safety.
HWRC Reuse
A reuse service is found at each one of the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). If your items are in a good condition and you think they can be re-used please take them to the reuse drop off area. The ‘Reuse Agent’ will assess the item and advise if it is suitable for reuse.
By dropping off or buying items for reuse, you:
- stop them going to waste
- save the energy needed to recycle them
- reduce the natural resources used to create new products
Please ensure:
- any electrical items are in working order
- upholstered furniture (chairs, sofas, clean mattresses) have the appropriate fire safety labels attached
Items collected for reuse in West Northamptonshire will be sold at an off-site reuse shop (apart from Farthinghoe) allowing people to purchase these items and diverting them from landfill.
Reuse shops
Items collected at the West Northants Recycling Centres that can be reused are taken to any one of a number of reuse shops.
There are 4 reuse shops in West Northamptonshire, they are operated by independent businesses:
- Farthinghoe Recycling Centre features an on-site shop where items are available for purchase, operated by Ace Reuse
- Brixworth: Ace Reuse Ltd, 128C Northampton Road, Brixworth, NN6 9BU
- Daventry: Air Ambulance Shop, 29A High Street, Daventry, NN11 4BG
- Northampton: Recyclemart/Timewarp Reclaim Reuse, 1-5 Milton Street, Northampton, NN2 7JG
Last updated 16 August 2022