Cash boost for London recycling shops brings social and environmental benefits

The £100,000 cash boost will go to charity Trinity which provides homeless people with work and housing.

The young homeless learn new skills by working in the charity’s shops and the proceeds are used to provide accommodation and training.

The funding will go towards setting up three new outlets, which the charity estimate will help create 69 new employment opportunities.

The first of the new shops is set to open later this year near Uxbridge High Street.

The charity also aims to purchase three second hand vehicles, which will be converted to run on bio-diesel and used to collect the unwanted furniture.

Currently 350,000 to 400,000 tonnes of furniture is sent to landfill each year in the UK.

London also faces hefty fines if we continue to dump so much of our waste in landfill. Trinity’s shops already divert 1,000 tonnes of furniture from landfill and this support from the London Waste and Recycling Board will help to divert 2,000 tonnes more furniture.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board said: “Trinity is a truly exceptional project. Thanks to this funding, the charity can expand its excellent work in saving perfectly useable furniture from ending up in landfill, whilst also providing employment and skills for homeless people.

“This ticks all the right boxes in helping to exploit the value of waste and stimulating a green economy in the capital.”

Sam Bond