InUse-ReUse, which the Blog featured in June 2019, has a new project to use recycled wooden pallets from Brixton market.
Founder Dennis Boateng launched the recycling outfit in 2017 with the support of the Brixton Business Improvement District.
Two years later, he secured a pilot contract with Lambeth council and became a resident maker at The Remakery in Camberwell to ramp up furniture production using wood from the pallets.
Boateng then won funding from Lambeth council’s contractor Veolia and the Mayor of London, via the Brixton -based charity Urban Growth, to use the wood from pallets to make products for the Slade Gardens rejuvenation project.
This is developing the popular Stockwell adventure playground with an “edible playground” and wildlife ponds for hosting educational outdoor activity workshops for local children and the community.
The funding enabled InUse-ReUse to build and install hand-made pallet benches, compost bins and fencing.
Veolia also donated 5,000 litres of peat-free compost, produced from London’s food and garden waste, for the Slade Gardens project.
Steve Verrier, senior contract manager at Veolia Lambeth, said: “It’s encouraging to see locals finding ways to reuse and recycle instead of throwing something away.
“We’re so pleased that, through our recycling fund for communities, we’re enabling people to do the right thing with Lambeth’s waste.”
Boateng said: “We thrive on finding projects that have an emphasis on the circular economy, and this particular project has enabled us to push wood waste higher up the recycling hierarchy.
“With over 60 parks and green spaces in the borough of Lambeth, there is scope to replicate this project in other locations and increase the use of local resources.”
Since 2018 Veolia has donated almost £12,000 and 9,000 litres of compost to 13 Lambeth projects that tackle environmental issues.
If you have an idea for a community project in the borough that would have a positive impact on the environment, you can find out how your project might be funded at veolia.co.uk/london/recycling-fund-communities.
