Zero Waste Scotland urges shoppers to embrace sharing economy

Zero Waste Scotland is bringing the 'sharing economy' concept to Glasgow with a week of activity planned to encourage shoppers to swap and pass on their old goods.


Pass it on Week is a new national awareness week that will be launched at Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre on 7 March in a bid to prevent the huge volumes of re-usable items sent to landfill each year across the country. The event will be compered by 60 Minute Makeover star John Amabile.

Swap shops, a vintage and re-used fashion show, upcycling and repair workshops and a re-use marketplace are all set to pop-up in the shopping centre to encourage behaviour change among consumers.

“Pass it on Week is all about rediscovering the joys of passing on, donating, sharing or repairing things to keep them in use for longer,” said Zero Waste Scotland’s chief executive Iain Gulland. “Thousands of tonnes of re-usable items are thrown away in Scotland every year because people often aren’t sure what to do with an item when they’ve finished with it.

“This week of activity is all about showing the amazing variety of ways there are to ensure your stuff goes on to have another life with a new owner. It’s fantastic to be able to showcase this in one of Scotland’s major shopping centres and show thousands of shoppers how they can get involved.” 

Greening Glasgow

Anne Ledgerwood, general manager of St. Enoch Centre, said: “For the past five years, St. Enoch Centre has achieved zero waste to landfill. We are delighted to be teaming with Zero Waste Scotland and Glasgow’s Green Year 2015 to show our shoppers how they too can minimise their impact on the environment and reduce the amount sent to landfill.”

In 2015, Glasgow is holding its first ‘Green-themed year’, celebrating its aspiration to be one of the world’s most sustainable cities. The 2015 programme brings together education, communities and business innovation in ways that help to strengthen Glasgow’s local and international green partnerships.

The sharing economy – which sees owners rent out or swap something they are not using – has exploded into life over the past 12 months. According to sharing economy advocate ‘Love Home Swap’, an estimated 25% of Brits already take part in sharing online, and current global revenues of around £9bn could reach £230bn per year by 2025. 

Late last year, Energy Minister Matthew Hancock reiterated that he wants to make the UK the ‘global centre’ of the sharing economy, announcing a nationwide review into how the concept can benefit businesses. The review will assess the opportunities offered by the sharing economy business model, and ways its success can be expedited.

Luke Nicholls

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